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What occurred at one Starbucks store is part of a much larger pattern — a surge in strikes and labor actions across AmericaWorkers in one Starbucks store, in Buffalo, New York, made history on Thursday by becoming Starbuck’s first unionized workplace. It’s a watershed for the biggest coffee seller in the world, which operates 8,953 stores in the United States — and which has done everything in its power to keep its workers from forming a union.The vote itself was tiny. There were 19 baristas and shift supervisors who voted in favor of unionizing, 8 voted against. But it marked a huge victory, nonetheless. Starbucks had waged a massive anti-union campaign in Buffalo — sending out-of-town managers and even executives into stores to discourage unionizing, closing down some stores, and packing remaining stores with new employees in order to dilute pro-union employees’ voting power.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at 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

Efforts are under way to undermine democracy in Michigan, for the benefit of Republican minority ruleDonald Trump lost Michigan by more than 150,000 votes in the 2020 presidential election. But the state still featured prominently in the false claims of election fraud pushed by Trump and his allies.Two days after the election, Trump addressed the nation and delivered a litany of inaccurate allegations about vote-counting in Michigan. “We were way up in Michigan, won the state, and that got whittled down,” Trump said. Without evidence, Trump accused Michigan poll workers of “duplicating ballots”, producing illegal “batches” of votes at 4am, and tallying “more votes than you had voters”. Continue reading...

The Chicago jury, which deliberated for more than nine hours, found Smollett guilty of five of the six charges he facedUS actor Jussie Smollett, known for his role on the TV show Empire, will return to court in Chicago in late January for a post-trial hearing and will learn at a later date whether he is going to prison after being found guilty late Thursday of faking a hate crime against himself to raise his celebrity profile.Despite a gaggle of reporters and photographers at the courthouse clamoring for comment and pictures, Smollett strode past them without a word, despite other players in his three-year legal saga stopping to give interviews. Continue reading...

Two Democratic senators resist president’s rules for large businesses despite support of scientists. Plus, US jobless claims plungeGood morning.Two Democratic senators have resisted Joe Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses despite having the support of scientists and public health experts.Why did they co-sign the bill? Manchin, who is vaccinated and boosted, said the rule represents federal overreach. “It is not the place of the federal government to tell private business owners how to protect their employees from Covid-19,” he said.What did the court decide? In a 3-0 decision, the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia said there was a “unique legislative need” for documents that the committee has requested.What did the judge say? In a 68-page ruling, Judge Patricia Ann Millett wrote: “On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment.” Continue reading...

The residents spent over $300,000 in lawsuits claiming ‘crime and loitering’ by the occupants would lead to ‘irreparable injuries’Just a few steps away from the horse-drawn carriages that whisk tourists through New York’s Central Park and the opulence of the Plaza Hotel is an unassuming building on a quiet block in midtown Manhattan.The building is marked by an awning that reads “Park Savoy Hotel”. Nestled in between a 24-hour parking structure and an apartment building on a predominantly residential street, the Park Savoy blends in with the other hotels in the neighborhood. Continue reading...

St Helens are favourites to clinch a fourth straight title in 2022. What can be done to make the league more competitive?By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets RequiredSt Helens are the bookies’ favourites to win the Super League Grand Final again next year and become the first club to clinch four straight titles. It will be a very tough ask given that only one club has been champions for more than three successive seasons in the sport’s 125-year history – Wigan, who won seven on the bounce before Super League was launched in 1996. Saints’ domination raises the questions about whether Super League is doing enough to become more competitive.Super League has only had three winners since Bradford’s last hurrah in 2005, although six other clubs have now been runners-up. The names at the top are definitely becoming more varied: Catalans were the seventh different club to feature in the last five Grand Finals, compared with just eight in the previous 16 finals, Hull KR the 11th to be one win from Old Trafford. That is progress – and proof the salary cap is working, a bit. Continue reading...

Alexia Putellas is our new No 1 with another five Barcelona players in the top 10 of our joint list with the Offside Rule Podcast

Ashley Young’s company fills a gap in the $57bn wedding industry: ‘We want to be an example’Three years before launching Bridal Babes – a bridal e-commerce boutique that caters to Black and brown wedding parties – Ashley Young was just another Black bride trying to find the perfect bridesmaid dresses. “My girls were of all shapes and sizes, and they wanted to show off the melanin and show off the curves,” Young, the company’s CEO and co-founder, recalls. “We needed sexy, form-fitting dresses in bold, bright colors.”But traditional bridal shops fell short. Young took her search off of the beaten path, eventually finding a strappy, figure-hugging design in a sumptuous coral shade that worked with each of her bridesmaids’ complexions. Young realized then that there was a gap to be filled in the $57bn US wedding industry and, in 2019, Bridal Babes was born. Continue reading...

Anti-abortionists are intent on enhancing men’s privileges, while women cannot even have rights over their own bodiesA lot of people with a lot of power don’t see why women should have jurisdiction over their own bodies. That’s the anti-abortion argument in a nutshell, in that they claim a foetus, or even an embryo, or in some cases even a fertilised egg too small for the human eye to see, has rights that supersede those of the person inside whose body that egg, embryo or foetus might be.What was clear from the rightwing pundits and conservative supreme court justices who have piped up over the last month as arguments were being heard in the most significant abortion rights case since Roe v Wade, is that in a country whose constitution is supposed to grant us all a lot of rights, they are happy to strip away a right so fundamental it’s unimaginable in other circumstances – or that it would be stripped from other people, namely men. In the case, Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state of Mississippi is asking the court to rule on whether it can outlaw abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation. They are asking, in other words, for the right to punish women for being women.Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Despite its reputation for liberal values, Portland has a long relationship with racism. Its soccer team is hoping to showcase diversity in the city and MLSOn Saturday, for the first time in their history, the Portland Timbers will host the MLS Cup final. Portland, who face New York City FC, are playing in their third MLS Cup final in seven seasons. But Timbers midfielder Eryk Williamson says the historic match brings a new level of anticipation.“It’s unbelievable because you see the games and the playoff games that we’ve been in and you’ve never felt this energy,” Williamson says. Continue reading...

Two Democratic senators push back against president’s rules for large businesses as cases continue to rise in the USTwo Democratic senators have resisted Joe Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses, illustrating problems the US president faces even within a faction of his own party, despite having the support of scientists and public health experts.The US Senate on Wednesday evening voted to overturn the mandate as new cases and hospitalizations continue rising in the country. Continue reading...

The annual gathering of costume-clad young people often invites mass brawls, public fornication and loutishnessThe holiday season is a time of year beloved by many New Yorkers, but it also brings an occasion many dread: SantaCon.An annual event that sees some 30,000 people descend on New York, at its best Saturday’s SantaCon is a gathering of young people who donate some money to charity while wearing Santa Claus costumes and getting drunk. Continue reading...

Many folk struggled and it was a tough year but we made it and now here is a cartoon

A measure approved Thursday makes it the largest city to open the ballot box to its 800,000 green card holders and DreamersNew York City could soon become the largest city in the US to give noncitizens the right to vote in local elections, a historic move that would open the ballot box to 800,000 green card holders and Dreamers.The city council approved the measure on Thursday. Only a potential veto from mayor Bill de Blasio stands in the way of the measure becoming law, but the Democrat has said he would not veto it. Continue reading...

The former president is expected to appeal the ruling to the supreme courtDonald Trump, the former US president, suffered a major defeat on Thursday when a federal appeals court ruled against his effort to block the release of documents related to the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.Trump is expected to appeal to the supreme court. Continue reading...

The state – and country – saw homicides climb 30% last year. The most impacted youth describe the trauma that comes with community violenceA deadly mass shooting at a suburban Michigan high school brought back a familiar American routine: utterances of shock, followed by condolences, blame, and then calls for action that fall on deaf ears.Last week’s school shooting came as young people across the US are reckoning with a historic surge in gun violence. While shootings on school campuses declined significantly during the pandemic – incidents where a gun was fired at US schools dropped from 130 to 96 between 2019 and 2020, according to a database from Everytown for Gun Safety – community gun violence rose dramatically in that same period. Gun violence deaths rose a staggering 30% from 2019 to 2020 nationwide, the sharpest rise in 60 years. Continue reading...

The US attorney’s office has released images during the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, who faces six federal charges relating to accusations that she facilitated and sometimes took part in the sexual exploitation of girls for her longtime companion, the late, disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey EpsteinDuring the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell in New York the prosecution introduced photographs never before seen publicly, showing the British socialite with Jeffrey Epstein. The images show the close relationship between Maxwell and Epstein, the late, disgraced sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, also in New York. Maxwell is charged in relation to procuring underage teen girls between 1994 and 2004 for Epstein, who sexually abused them.Maxwell and Epstein on his private jet, dubbed the ‘Lolita Express’. Continue reading...

The first for any Starbucks-owned store, the victory could inspire unionization efforts across the company’s 8,000 outlets in the USStarbucks workers have voted to unionize at a store in Buffalo, New York, over the company’s objections, pointing the way to a new labor model for the 50-year-old coffee giant.The National Labor Relations Board said Thursday that workers voted 19-8 in favor of a union. The board is still counting votes for two other stores. Continue reading...

President opens two-day summit with 80 world leaders as experts warn democratic rights are under assault in the USJoe Biden has launched his virtual Summit for Democracy with a warning that democratic rights and norms are under threat around the world, including in the US.Facing video links with 80 world leaders arrayed on two oversize electronic panels, the US president said: “This is an urgent matter on all our parts, in my view, because the data we’re seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction.” Continue reading...

Julie Fancelli, the largest publicly known donor of the rally, gave $650,000 to three organizations that helped stage and promote itA low-profile American heiress living in Italy has come under fire for donating $650,000 to three organizations that helped stage and promote the political rally on 6 January that was followed by the insurrection at the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump.Julie Fancelli, 72, who is the daughter of the founder of the Florida-based Publix supermarket chain, is facing criticism after new investigations revealed that she is the largest publicly known donor of the 6 January rally, the Washington Post reported. Continue reading...

The defeated 2016 candidate has read aloud what she would have said in victory – joining a cast of thwarted speechmakersIt was one of the most significant branching points in recent history – and at least one artefact of the way things might have been still exists.On Wednesday the Today show in the US released a video of Hillary Clinton reading the speech she would have given if she had beaten Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Clinton, who is giving a course in “the power of resilience” with the online education company Masterclass, teared up as she read aloud from her speech. She said reading it entailed “facing one of my most public defeats head-on”. Continue reading...

Judge Alison Nathan says she expects proceedings will resume on FridayGhislaine Maxwell’s New York sex-trafficking trial was unexpectedly adjourned early Thursday because an “ill” attorney needed medical care. “I’ve been informed there’s an attorney in the case who’s ill, and that attorney has to get care,” the judge, Alison Nathan, told jurors this morning.Nathan’s disclosure came several moments after attorneys on the case asked to speak with her in private. It’s unclear from proceedings which attorney is ill. Continue reading...

Pair accused of reckless arson in warrant over Caldor fire, which destroyed over 1,000 homes and buildingsA father and son were arrested on suspicion of starting a large California wildfire that destroyed many houses and forced tens of thousands of people to flee Lake Tahoe communities earlier this year, authorities said.Authorities accused David Scott Smith, 66, and his son, Travis Shane Smith, 32, on Wednesday of reckless arson in a warrant issued before formal charges are filed, the El Dorado county district attorney’s office said. Continue reading...

Unemployment claims drop to lowest since 1969, with layoffs lower and unfilled demand for workers much larger than pre-pandemicThe number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in 52 years, more evidence that the US job market is recovering from last year’s coronavirus recession.Unemployment claims dropped by 43,000 to 184,000 last week, the lowest since September 1969, the labor department said Thursday. The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, fell below 219,000, the lowest since the pandemic hit the United States hard in March 2020. Continue reading...

Leaders of major groups pushing for voting reform expected to hear about a strategy to move forward – but they didn’t hear any kind of plan at allHello, and Happy Thursday,Around Thanksgiving, I spoke with a few people who had recently attended a meeting at the White House to discuss voting rights. They were frustrated.The justice department filed its first redistricting lawsuit this year on Monday, challenging Texas’ new congressional and state House maps. Texas Republicans drew districts, in some cases intentionally, to make it harder for Latino and Black voters to elect the candidate of their choice.A Trump-aligned group is looking for a way around Wisconsin’s Democratic governor to enact new voting restrictions.Lawyers for Crystal Mason, the Texas woman appealing a five-year prison sentence for illegal voting in 2016, filed an appellate brief arguing that Texas’ new voting law contains a provision that bolsters her argument for why her conviction should be overturned. Continue reading...

Lawsuits filed on behalf of a student who was shot in the neck and her sister, who was next to her at the timeTwo lawsuits seeking $100m each have been filed against a Michigan school district, its superintendent, principal and others after four students were fatally shot and others wounded at Oxford high school, a lawyer announced Thursday.The lawsuits were filed in federal court in Detroit, attorney Geoffrey Fieger said. They were filed on behalf of a student who was shot in the neck and wounded during the 30 November shooting, and her sister, who was next to her at the time of the shooting. Continue reading...

A diver was lowered from a helicopter to pull the occupant from a car found in the frigid rapids at the brink of American FallsIn a dramatic rescue attempt on Wednesday, a US coast guard diver braved the frigid rapids where a car had become submerged in water near the brink of Niagara Falls, only to find it was too late to rescue the person trapped inside.The diver was lowered from a hovering helicopter, climbed into the car and pulled out the body of its lone occupant, a woman in her 60s, officials from New York’s state park police said. Continue reading...

California could provide procedures and cover travel and accommodation costs for people from other states seeking abortion. Plus, New Zealand bans smoking for the next generation

Thinktank commissioned to draw up a report on the future of the US intercontinental ballistic missile programmeThe Pentagon has asked a Washington thinktank to draw up a report on the future of the US intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programme and deliver it before the end of January.The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) will present options based on three rounds of virtual consultations, which began on Tuesday, between Pentagon officials, nuclear weapons experts and arms control advocates. Continue reading...

From favoring the status quo to indulging in false equivalence, the mainstream media engages in subtle, persistent biases. That’s why I read the Guardian

Student debt in America has become a crisis for millions of citizens that often feels like it will last for people’s whole livesJennifer Rae Wilson, a social worker and single mother of three children in Richland, Washington, has struggled with student loan debt since she went back to school and graduated in 2000 – more than two decades ago.Struggling to raise three boys with very little child support, Wilson decided to attend college 10 years after graduating high school to improve her career prospects. She was eventually able to move out of low-income assistance housing and off government assistance programs. Continue reading...

The club began life by pulling in famous names from Europe. But, after taking a more low-key approach they are in their first MLS Cup finalDavid Villa never delivered MLS Cup for New York City FC. Neither did Andrea Pirlo or Frank Lampard. Those names put NYC FC on the map in the first few years of the club’s existence, but celebrity counts for little in the playoffs.Now, the names are not so recognisable, but NYC FC are preparing for their first MLS Cup final on Saturday, when they will take on the Portland Timbers. Ronny Deila’s team are just one win from the title and vindicating the change in approach that took place after Villa, Pirlo, Lampard and the rest exited. Continue reading...

The students are striking over better and health care and third-party arbitration for harassment and discrimination complaintsAround 3,000 graduate workers at Columbia University in New York City, who have been on strike since 3 November, recently received an email from the university human resources department threatening the workers with replacement if they continue striking.The strike is currently the largest active strike in the US. Continue reading...

Ohio, as well as Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania have seen a recent increase in cases and hospitalizationsFor Dr Rina D’Abramo of the MetroHealth System in Cleveland, it’s difficult when patients in the emergency room tell her they have not been vaccinated.“You can hear it in their voice when you say, ‘Are you vaccinated?’” said D’Abramo, who works at a hospital in the Brecksville suburb. “They shrink down and are like, ‘No. Now I know why I need to be vaccinated.’ ” Continue reading...

Billed as a rallying call for human rights and liberties, the event has been lambasted by critics such as China and even invitees are criticalMuch of the advance commentary about Joe Biden’s two-day Summit for Democracy has been a diplomat’s version of a Charity Ball: long discussions about the guest list and how the guests will show up, and very little about its supposedly noble purpose.Potentially a rallying point for democracy, after the west’s crushing setback in Afghanistan, the summit has not been receiving rave advance notices even from those that have been invited. Continue reading...

This season defenses have figured out how to counter the men who have dominated the league for years. But they may not stay ahead for longAfter two decades of booming production, quarterbacks across the NFL have hit a wall this season.Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, as you would expect, have been great at times this season. But they’ve also suffered down spells, fighting against iffy schemes, rough offensive line play, injuries or illness. Continue reading...

This week’s roundup also features Nigel Mansell, 10-wicket hauls and a classic Gary Anderson interview1) On Saturday, Leeds visit Chelsea to continue one of English football’s most storied rivalries. Here’s action from their clashes over the years – memorable occasions include their 1952 FA Cup fifth-round second replay, the 1966 FA Cup fourth-round tieand the infamous 1970 FA Cup final replay. Here’s a collection of choice fouls, and Eddie McCreadie’s head-height assault on Billy Bremner; here’s Match of the Day’s report of crowd shenanigans in 1982; a league encounter from 1992 featuring a brilliant goal from Eric Cantona; and one from December 1999 featuring a double from Stephen McPhail and a red card for Frank Leboeuf.2) Snooker’s 2021 UK Championship is in the books, and what a belter it was. Here’s an unbelievable shot from Judd Trump, and a Ronnie O’Sullivan special to enjoy. Kyren Wilson fluked green then brown to beat Wu Yize, then finished off Ben Woolaston with doubles, and what about this beauty from his semi-final loss to Luca Brecel? Ultimately though, the tournament was a coming-out party for the new champion, Zhao Xintong. Here he is finishing off Brecel to secure the trophy, his post-match interview, and chatting with O’Sullivan, who explains just how good he is. There was also the spectacle of a spectator blowing off steam during the final – or was it the return of the dreaded snooker trolls? Continue reading...

People of color and low-income residents are disproportionately affected by Amazon’s warehouses, a Consumer Reports investigation foundLast year, with little warning, a new Amazon delivery station brought the rumble of semi-trailer trucks and delivery vans to Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood.The warehouse, located within 1,500 feet of five schools, is in a residential area where more than half the people within a mile have low incomes and nearly 90% are Hispanic. Continue reading...

Portraits of North Omaha’s local people and architecture reveal the impact of white supremacy on the lives of Black people – including the photographer Continue reading...

There was much less plastic, much finer dressing and no time spent staring at screens - making room for extraordinary creativityA lot of great stuff has been written about what the film Get Back has taught us about the Beatles. I wonder if I might chip in with what the film taught us about other stuff.First, how much less plastic and packaging there was back then. Sandwiches were brought in on actual plates and tea was drunk from actual cups. Today, within a short walk of that building at 3 Savile Row in the West End of London, I make it 19 branches of Pret a Manger, 14 Starbucks, four Sainsbury’s, three Marks & Spencers and two Tescos. The making of that film about those rehearsals and that performance would today have generated skipfuls of bad stuff.Adrian Chiles is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Warm spell equals or breaks records in several states, with temperature 15-20C above average in placesA spell of unseasonably warm weather affected southern and western parts of the US and south-western Canada last week, with temperatures 15-20C above average in places. December temperature records were broken in multiple locations. Penticton in British Columbia had its highest ever December on the 1st as the temperature reached 22.5C. In the US, Montana, North Dakota, Washington and Wyoming all equalled or broke state temperature records for December.Not all the US states are seeing unseasonable warmth, however. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a fairly rare blizzard warning last weekend for the summits of Big Island, Hawaii. It forecast up to 20cm (8in) of snow and winds gusting up to 125mph. The NWS has not issued a blizzard warning for that region since 2018. The same system that brought the snow also caused heavy rain at lower levels. Continue reading...

A woman's body has been retrieved from a car that was washed close to the brink of Niagara Falls on the US-Canada border. A coast guard rescuer was lowered from a helicopter to the car and found the body. An investigation has been launched into how the car and its occupant ended up in the Niagara River.

News comes one day after Trump’s former chief of staff indicated he would no longer cooperate with investigatorsThe leaders of the House committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack have said they have “no choice” but to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress after his lawyer said Tuesday that his client will cease cooperating with the panel.The Democratic chair of the committee, Mississippi congressman Bennie Thompson, released a letter to Meadows’s attorney, George Terwilliger, notifying him of the panel’s plans. Continue reading...

The Empire actor denies he falsified police reports about the alleged racist and homophobic attack in 2019Lawyers delivered their closing arguments on Wednesday in Jussie Smollett’s criminal trial where the former Empire actor is facing charges that he lied to Chicago police about an attack in 2019.Smollett denies the charges. Continue reading...

US will ‘lead by example in tackling the climate crisis,’ says White House, by eliminating greenhouse gases from its activitiesThe US government will be a net zero contributor to the climate crisis by 2050 by slashing the planet-heating emissions from its operations and transitioning to an all-electric fleet of cars and trucks, according to a new executive order signed by Joe Biden.The federal government is the largest land owner, energy consumer and employer in the US and it will “lead by example in tackling the climate crisis”, the White House said, by eliminating greenhouse gases from its activities. Continue reading...

‘Shawn’ says he drove Carolyn to Epstein’s house every few weeks, after she testified Maxwell scheduled sexualized massages with Epstein