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Updated 2025-07-05 21:00
First Thing: Climate crisis funds ‘not delivered’ to countries in grave need
With famine in Somalia almost inevitable, $100bn a year pledge criticised. Plus, China is locking down parts of Wuhan againGood morning.Billions of dollars ostensibly committed to addressing the impacts of the climate crisis in poorer countries are not being delivered, the UN’s humanitarian chief has declared. Martin Griffiths said he was “scrambling to try to understand” where a promised $100bn a year agreed at the UN climate change conference in 2009 by richer countries has gone.Follow the money. The Green Climate Fund was created as a way to deliver the money promised in 2009, but its impact has been limited since rich countries often channel their financing through the World Bank or regional development banks.‘Woman, life, freedom’. As many as 10,000 mourners attended Amini’s gravesite yesterday despite security services warning her family not to hold the ceremony and commanding a heavy presence in the city. The shootings appear to have happened when a smaller group marched to the governor’s office in Saqqez. Continue reading...
‘A lens of empathy’: disability advocates on John Fetterman and leadership
After Tuesday’s Senate debate, activists describe their career experiences and the standards by which we judge competenceWhen John Fetterman took the debate stage on Tuesday night in his high-stakes bid to become Pennsylvania’s next US senator, the focus wasn’t on his opponent Dr Mehmet Oz’s conspiracy theories or far-right views: it was on the effects of Fetterman’s recent stroke. The lieutenant governor used a close-captioning device and fumbled some of his sentences – which some commentators claimed was evidence that he was not “fit to serve”.But some people with disabilities saw things differently: someone adapting to a life crisis anyone could experience. Continue reading...
‘A madness has taken hold’ ahead of US midterms: local election officials fear for safety
In two rural California counties, voters are showing increasing hostility and aggression toward election workersInside the office of the Shasta county clerk and registrar of voters, which runs elections for about 111,000 people in this part of far northern California, Cathy Darling Allen can see all the security improvements she would make if she had the budget.“We have plexi on the counter downstairs for Covid but that won’t stop a person. It’s literally just clamped to the counters,” the county clerk and registrar said. For about $50,000, the office could secure the front, limiting access to upstairs offices, she estimated. Another county put bulletproof glass in their lobby years earlier, she knew, something officials there at one point considered removing, though not any more. Continue reading...
My Black skin got me sacked from British TV. That’s why I spend my life fighting racism | Barbara Blake-Hannah
It was a struggle for Black Britons to make headway 50 years ago, and it still is now – but it is important to fight onFifty years ago, when racists called and wrote daily letters to ITV’s Today programme in 1968 telling the corporation “Get that nigger off our screens”, they were speaking about me, the first visibly Black TV journalist in Britain.It resulted in me losing my job, having been in post just nine months. The official excuse at the time was, “She didn’t fit in with the programme.” But this was not what I was told when the producer showed me the complaint letters, and then the door. Continue reading...
Will he testify? Trump’s lawyers accept subpoena from Capitol attack panel
Acceptance of subpoena means former president must settle upon his response to sweeping demand from January 6 investigatorsDonald Trump’s attorneys have now accepted service of the subpoena issued by the January 6 select committee, setting into motion the countdown for the former US president to inform the panel investigating the Capitol attack whether he intends to cooperate with the congressional investigation.The acceptance of the subpoena means Trump must settle on his response to the sweeping demand from the panel – requesting documents and testimony about contacts with political figures as well as far-right groups that stormed the Capitol – that will set him on a path without room for reversal. Continue reading...
Oregon could see first Republican governor in 40 years as polls tilt away from Democrats
Independent hopeful with bipartisan support, along with funds from state’s richest man, could deliver victory to Christine DrazanFor the first time in more than 40 years, a Republican could win the governor’s seat in Oregon, breaching the seemingly solid Democratic line of states running along the Pacific coastline of the US.The tight race between former Oregon House speaker Tina Kotek, a Democrat, and former Oregon House minority leader Christine Drazan, a Republican, which in the latest polling showed Drazan with a hairline lead, indicates a rebuff of the current term-limited liberal governor, Kate Brown. Continue reading...
The resurgent New York Giants: lucky, predictable or actually pretty good?
Brian Daboll has overseen plenty of narrow wins, which is often a sign of luck rather than skill. But his team are doing plenty of things rightBill Parcells’ old axiom that “you are what your record says you are” is a nice bit of football folklore but it can often be misleading.There are plenty of average teams who sputter their way to a winning record, only to be found out in the postseason. Conversely, there are good ones who fall away due to injuries, bad luck, or being stuck in an unusually competitive division with a tough schedule. Continue reading...
We can put people on the moon. So why can’t we stop my glasses sliding down my nose? | Adrian Chiles
I’ve tried everything, from Pritt Stick to antiperspirant, but they refuse to stay putMy spectacles keep slipping down my nose. They’ve been doing so roughly every 10 minutes since the dark day in 1980 when an optician in Stourbridge lodged some specs on this 13-year-old and blighted his life for ever.Indoors or out, whatever the ambient conditions, down they slip. I’m writing this in my cool, calm, air-conditioned dressing room as I wait to appear on Loose Women on ITV. And down my specs are slipping. I push them back up, and back down they go. Up down up down up down, all day every day, for nearly half a century. Continue reading...
Second woman says Herschel Walker pressured her to have abortion
Lawyer Gloria Allred introduces woman as Jane Doe who alleges anti-abortion candidate drove her to a clinic in the 1990sAnother woman has claimed that Herschel Walker pressured her into having an abortion and drove her to a clinic to obtain one.On Wednesday, lawyer Gloria Allred – who has represented numerous alleged victims of sexual misconduct and assault – introduced to reporters a woman who alleges Walker, the anti-abortion Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, took her to an abortion clinic to have an abortion in the 1990s. Continue reading...
Mystery death of fifth humpback whale in Pacific north-west sparks alarm
Spike, a beloved marine animal known to scientists since 2018, was found washed ashore near Vancouver IslandThe nearly 32ft hulking frame of a male humpback whale was found splayed on sands near California’s Fort Bragg on Saturday – the fourth whale to wash ashore along the coasts of Mendocino this year.A day later, a young female humpback would also be found dead far north near Vancouver Island. She was known to scientists as “Spike”, after being first documented in 2018. Continue reading...
Texas man sentenced to death over murder of Sikh police officer
Jury deliberates for 35 minutes before returning death sentence for Robert Solis, convicted of shooting dead Sandeep DhaliwalA man was sentenced to death on Wednesday for the fatal 2019 shooting of a law enforcement officer who was the first Sikh deputy in his Texas agency.A Harris county jury deliberated for about 35 minutes before returning the death sentence for Robert Solis, 50, after convicting him of capital murder on 17 October in Harris county sheriff’s deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal’s killing. Continue reading...
Mike Davis, prophetic writer on disaster and social unrest, dies aged 76
Writer of over a dozen books and California’s ‘prophet of doom’ told the Guardian in August: ‘Despair is useless’Mike Davis, the California historian who became famous for his prophetic warnings of social unrest and ecological disaster, died on Tuesday after a long struggle with esophageal cancer. He was 76.In more than a dozen books, Davis exposed the power struggles and betrayals that shaped the landscape and the people of southern California, where he grew up, and also explored how similar power struggles between elites and working class people played out around the world. Continue reading...
Anonymous woman claims Herschel Walker pressured her to have abortion and drove her to clinic – as it happened
‘We ain’t done dancing': Los Angeles festival brings Black community together
Taste of Soul elevates Black cultural experience and aids local businesses through food, music and art in InglewoodAs the sun began to break through the clouds over Los Angeles, cousins Glynis Phillips and Kim Polk danced their way up Crenshaw Boulevard. Music blared from a nearby stage, and the smell of barbecue wafted from a food truck.“Oh, we ain’t done dancing,” Phillips said, reaching out to Polk with a laugh. Continue reading...
Wisconsin man found guilty in 2021 Christmas attack that killed six people
Darrell Brooks faces multiple life sentences for Milwaukee SUV attack that killed six and injured scores of other parade-goersA Wisconsin man was convicted on Wednesday of killing six people and injuring dozens of others when he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade last year, wrapping up a trial in which he defended himself with bizarre legal theories and erratic outbursts.It took the jury a little over three hours to find Darrell Brooks guilty of all 76 charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide. He faces a mandatory life sentence on each homicide count. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on Russia’s war machine: little more than a brittle facade | Editorial
Vladimir Putin’s defeat in Ukraine is needed for the restoration of hope to Russians wanting a better future for themselves as well as their neighboursVladimir Putin is losing the war in Ukraine, but this does not make him any less dangerous. A despot whose authority at home depends on projecting strength abroad cannot afford the humiliation of defeat. So far, the Russian president has responded to every setback with more aggression. That involves more indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civil infrastructure. But Mr Putin also makes more demands of Russians. When the war began, civilian support for what censorship laws insisted on calling a “special military operation” was high, but mostly passive. Saturated with Kremlin propaganda, most of the country accepted the deranged official version of events – that Ukrainians were crying out for “liberation” by Russian soldiers.But there was also dissent and protest in defiance of repression. Tens of thousands of people left the country in horror when the war began. Their number was then swollen by Mr Putin’s decision last month to declare a “partial mobilisation” of fighting-age men.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...
Trial over death at Colorado strip club delayed after key lawyer dies there too
Steve Long, defending Shotgun Willie’s over death of Randall Wright in 2019, found dead after evening at club earlier this monthA trial centering on the death of a retail company executive at a Colorado strip club in 2019 has been delayed after a lawyer defending the club died there too.Steve Long was defending the strip club, Shotgun Willie’s in Glendale, in a lawsuit alleging it was liable for the death of Randall Wright, a customer, three years ago. The case was supposed to go to trial on 7 November. Continue reading...
How was Kanye West allowed to air his far-right views for so long? | Emma Brockes
Ye’s actions are straight out of Trump’s playbook of chaos. But online trolling all too often has real-world consequencesIf there has been a single enjoyable aspect to the initially sad, latterly alarming downfall of Ye, the rapper and mogul formerly known as Kanye West, it has been the sound of screeching tyres this week as successive associates understood – finally – that supporting him wasn’t in their interests, and slammed on the brakes.Without Ye and his frothing antisemitism, we might have been denied a trot around the little known origins of Adidas, official sports shoe of the German Olympics team in 1936, and, until Tuesday, one of Ye’s many lucrative sponsors. Continue reading...
Florida attorney who fought helmet laws dies in motorcycle crash
Ron Smith and his girlfriend, Brenda Jeanan Volpe, weren’t wearing helmets in fatal August crashFor almost a decade, Ron Smith, an attorney and avid motorcycle rider from Pinellas county, Florida, advocated against laws which said motorcyclists had to wear helmets to ride. Eventually, the state law changed.This August, Smith, 66, and his girlfriend, Brenda Jeanan Volpe, 62, died in a fatal motorcycle crash. Neither was wearing a helmet, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Continue reading...
Pundits divided over Fetterman’s performance in key Senate debate
Rightwing news outlets and commentators called for candidate to drop out of race while campaign said it raised $1m on back of eventAs the dust settled over Tuesday night’s sole televised debate in the crucial US Senate race in Pennsylvania, pundits were starkly divided over the impact of the Democrat John Fetterman’s struggles with speech in his recovery from a stroke.The Pennsylvania lieutenant governor raised the issue of his auditory processing disorder, which makes it difficult for him to understand certain spoken words, in his opening remarks in the debate with his Republican rival, the former TV doctor Mehmet Oz. Continue reading...
Militia group trio found guilty of aiding plot to kidnap Michigan governor
Joe Morrison, his father-in-law Pete Musico and Paul Bellar found guilty of providing ‘material support’ for terrorist actThree men accused of supporting a plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, were convicted of all charges on Wednesday, a triumph for state prosecutors after months of mixed results in the main case in federal court.Joe Morrison, his father-in-law Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were found guilty of providing “material support” for a terrorist act as members of a paramilitary group, the Wolverine Watchmen. Continue reading...
Florida teen wins top prize by capturing 28 pythons in annual competition
1,000 people participated in the annual challenge, which removed 231 unwanted pythons from the wildA 19-year-old south Florida man captured 28 Burmese pythons in a 10-day competition created to increase awareness about the threat the invasive snakes pose to state ecology.Matthew Concepcion was among the 1,000 people from 32 states, Canada and Latvia who participated in the annual challenge, which removed 231 of the unwanted pythons, the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission said. Continue reading...
US mortgage rates hit 21-year high as Fed action weighs on housing sector
Average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by 22 basis points to 7.16% last weekThe average interest rate on the most popular US home loan rose to its highest level since 2001 as tightening financial conditions weigh on the housing sector, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) showed on Wednesday.The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by 22 basis points to 7.16% for the week ended 21 October while the MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell 1.7% from a week earlier. Mortgage application activity is at its slowest pace since 1997. Continue reading...
Oh, Britain: the chasm between myth and reality keeps on growing | Richard Wolffe
From the US, there are clear lessons for other countries tempted to go down the same post-Brexit, mirage-filled roadThe last few months of Westminster drama are both so plainly watchable and so painfully bamboozling.It’s like being forced to sit through a game of cricket or baseball. The beer and the snacks are fine, but the game only makes sense to the insiders who have been thrilled by the secret strategies since childhood. Continue reading...
LA and Austin out of MLR as US rugby faces further uncertainty
Teams owned by and named for Australian entrepreneur Adam Gilchrist will not compete but team in new city due in 2022Major League Rugby, the US men’s professional rugby union competition, will operate with 12 teams next season, down from 13 with the withdrawal of Los Angeles and Austin but with the addition of an expansion team, possibly based in Chicago.Announcing the news on Tuesday, the MLR commissioner, George Killebrew, said: “While we understand that this news is disappointing for the fans, players, and stakeholders of these two teams, this decision was made after much deliberation and counsel, and with the best interests of the league in mind. Continue reading...
Tulsa race massacre: 14 bodies to be re-exhumed in effort to identify victims
New exhumations will be followed by new search for bodies in Oklahoma cemetery linked to 1921 atrocitySome of 19 bodies previously exhumed for testing in an effort to identify victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and then reburied in an Oklahoma cemetery will be exhumed again starting on Wednesday, to gather more DNA.None of the remains recovered thus far have been confirmed as victims of the massacre, in which more than 1,000 homes were burned, hundreds were looted and a thriving business district known as Black Wall Street was destroyed. Continue reading...
Klay Thompson gets first career ejection as Suns thrash Warriors in stormy game
Trump bragged about new US nuclear weapons, Woodward tape shows
Former president told Washington Post reporter: ‘We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before’In a taped conversation with Bob Woodward, Donald Trump boasted about US nuclear weapons development.“I have built a weapon system that nobody’s ever had in this country before,” the then president told the veteran Washington Post reporter. “We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before.” Continue reading...
Washington holds breath as Thorns and Current collide in NWSL final
Two-time champions Portland Thorns are the favourites in Saturday’s game, but Kansas City Current have the beliefWelcome to Moving the Goalposts, the Guardian’s free women’s football newsletter. Here’s an extract from this week’s edition. To receive the full version once a week, just pop your email in below:Old meets new on Saturday evening at Washington DC’s Audi Field, which hosts the NWSL Championship final between the two-time champions Portland Thorns and a Kansas City Current side in their second season. Continue reading...
Why we are wary of Russian émigrés in Georgia – so soon after Russian invaders | Davit Gabunia
In this, one of a series of essays on the war in Ukraine from countries in or neighbouring the former Soviet bloc, a Georgian playwright says the government is out of step with the anti-Putin popular moodWhen Russia’s modern tsar escalated his war by announcing the partial mobilisation of reservists on 21 September, another wave of anxiety swept over Georgia. With due acknowledgment that every word written from this region at the moment should be about, or in support of, the Ukrainian people and their struggle, this anxiety is why I’m diverting to focus briefly on how we see this brutal war from Georgia, which, thanks to historical and geopolitical misfortune, happens to be a southern neighbour of Russia.The invasion of Ukraine has revived painful collective and personal memories of Russia’s 2008 war on Georgia. The trauma from this not-so-distant past rose to the surface again in February and has remained there. The current government of Georgia has tried to ignore it altogether, as if it had never happened. Continue reading...
Biden and Sunak vow to support Ukraine and counter China | First Thing
US president and new British PM reaffirm ‘special relationship’ after Sunak becomes Britain’s third leader in 2022. Plus, TikTok risks being a vector of misinformation in run-up to midterm elections
‘Democracy on the ballot’: the man fighting to keep Arizona’s election out of an extremist’s hands
For Adrian Fontes, the secretary of state election is a battle for the ‘fate of the republic’ against his rightwing election-denying opponent, Mark Finchem“BELIEVE”. The word is written in large blue letters above the door of Adrian Fontes’s campaign office in Scottsdale, Arizona, a replica of Ted Lasso’s motivational sign from the hit TV show featuring an American football coach thrown into the bear pit of the English Premier League.“It speaks to me,” Fontes explained. “It says that ‘You can do it’ is a question of faith.” Continue reading...
Amazon workers strike amid allegations of crackdown on unionization activities
Workers across the US allege the company is fending off efforts to organize as election petition to be resubmitted in CaliforniaWorkers at Amazon are increasing pressure on the world’s largest retailer with strikes and protests aimed at improving working conditions and wages as the company continues to fend off unionization efforts.The unionization movement at Amazon, which has garnered worldwide attention, suffered a recent setback when it lost a vote at a warehouse outside of Albany, New York, amid numerous charges of unfair labor practices. Continue reading...
Trump 2024 campaign seeks to recruit man who smeared John Kerry – reports
Ex-president eyeing Chris LaCivita, whose 2004 ‘Swift Boat’ campaign questioned Kerry’s Vietnam war recordAs he prepares a possible new presidential campaign, Donald Trump is seeking to recruit an operative who was behind a group which famously questioned the Vietnam war record of the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, the Washington Post reported.The operative who ran Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Chris LaCivita, worked for one Trump-aligned political action committee during the 2020 election and now runs another. He is also a consultant for Ron Johnson, a Trump-supporting Wisconsin senator fighting for re-election. Continue reading...
Ex-Black Panther asks for fresh trial amid new evidence
New evidence shows that the conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal – who has spent over 40 years in prison – was tainted, prompting calls for a re-examinationMumia Abu-Jamal, the best known of the African American radicals incarcerated for decades for their actions during the black liberation struggle of the 1970s and 80s, is petitioning a Pennsylvania court for a new trial after the discovery of fresh evidence that casts doubt on his conviction.Abu-Jamal’s case will come before the court of common pleas in Philadelphia on Wednesday. The hearing could be one of the prisoner’s last attempts at freedom after more than 40 years behind bars, including two decades on death row, for the murder of a white police officer – a crime for which he has always insisted he is innocent. Continue reading...
Biden ‘totally running’ for second term as president, MSNBC interviewer says
Jonathan Capehart, who interviewed US president for TV network, says he is sure Biden is preparing to run againJoe Biden is “totally running” for a second term, the MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart has said, just days after interviewing the US president.The oldest president ever inaugurated, Biden will turn 80 on 20 November. Continue reading...
Abortion rights take centre stage as Oz and Fetterman clash in Pennsylvania Senate debate
The two candidates for the competitive Senate seat argued over the economy, crime and the tone of Republican attacks on the Democrat candidates health
Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, Rams’ Aaron Donald end deals with Kanye West’s agency
Harvey Weinstein accuser testifies she wanted to ‘destroy’ herself after assault
The woman alleges the producer raped her in 2013 and is the first of eight witnesses providing testimony during the trialA woman who accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 2013 testified on Tuesday that the attack left her wanting to “destroy” herself.The woman, a model and actor living and working in Rome who was in Los Angeles at the time for a film festival, is the first of eight Weinstein accusers set to testify in a courtroom in Los Angeles where the 70-year-old movie mogul is on trial on multiple counts of rape and sexual assault. Continue reading...
California sheriff’s office stops Black drivers five times more often than white people, data shows
A new report says sheriffs’ patrols spend more time conducting racially biased stops than they do responding to calls for helpBlack drivers in California’s capital are nearly five times more likely than white motorists to get pulled over by sheriffs for traffic violations, according to a new report on racial profiling across the state.Records from the county sheriff’s departments of Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Riverside show that Black Californians were disproportionately stopped across those regions in 2019, especially for minor infractions. Continue reading...
Pamela Moses sues officials after voter fraud conviction overturned
Tennessee woman was serving six-year sentence before prosecutors’ withholding of crucial document came to lightA Tennessee woman who had a six-year prison sentence for voter fraud overturned this year is suing state and local officials for damages, claiming she was wrongfully prosecuted and incarcerated.Pamela Moses, a 44-year-old Memphis activist, was sentenced to six years in prison in January after prosecutors said she tried to register to vote knowing she was ineligible because of a prior felony conviction. She was convicted even though two government officials, including a probation officer who conceded he made an error, signed off on a state form affirming her eligibility. The case prompted national outrage. Continue reading...
Florida governor debate: DeSantis defends abortion ban with false claims
Charlie Crist, former Republican who switched parties, puts governor on defensive during Florida’s sole gubernatorial debateIn the sole debate of the Florida governor’s race, the Republican incumbent, Ron DeSantis, was put on the defensive by his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, on subjects including abortion and DeSantis’s presidential ambitions.Crist called Florida’s 15-week abortion ban, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest, “callous and barbaric”. Continue reading...
Arizona county approves plan to hand-count ballots following Trump’s big lie
Election denier calls for hand counts are starting to play out weeks before the midterms, setting stage for confusion and chaosA small border county in Arizona voted to conduct a hand count audit of all ballots, disregarding legal warnings from the county’s attorney and threats of lawsuits and investigations.The decision creates a wave of uncertainty for elections workers in the county just two weeks before election day and with early voting, the primary way Arizonans cast ballots, already underway. Continue reading...
Fury after Democrats publish and withdraw letter urging Biden to negotiate with Russia – as it happened
Letter was drafted months ago and ‘released by staff without vetting’, says Pramila Jayapal
Brittney Griner: jailed US basketball star's court appeal rejected by Russian court – video
The jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner's appeal was rejected by a Russian court on Tuesday, after she challenged a nine-year sentence for drugs possession and smuggling. The WNBA all-star and two-time Olympic gold medallist was arrested on 17 February and found guilty by the court in August. She was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. Elizabeth Rood, the charge d'affaires at the US embassy in Moscow, said: 'Nothing in the previous sentence, nothing in the result of today's appeal changes the fact that the United States government considers Miss Griner to be wrongfully detained.' Griner's lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, said the handling of the case 'contradicts almost all of the existing judicial practice known to us in this regard'.After reports of a possible prisoner swap, Blagovolina said she wasn't involved in nor was she aware of any negotiations between the US and Russia. President Joe Biden however, said talks with Moscow to secure the release of Griner and other American prisoners in Russia were ongoing, but so far had not been met with 'much positive response'.
Police kill two dogs after US Amazon driver dies in apparent animal attack
Man’s body found on lawn of home in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, where police later shot English mastiff and German shepherdTwo dogs were fatally shot by police after an Amazon driver was found dead near them on Monday night with what appeared to be wounds from an animal attack.Police in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, said they found a man’s body on the front lawn of a home about 7pm after neighbors reported a van had been parked there for many hours. Investigators discovered that the dead man was an Amazon delivery driver. Continue reading...
St Louis school shooter had more than 600 rounds of ammunition, police say
Missouri gunman left note detailing loneliness and life of isolation leading to ‘perfect storm for a mass shooter’The 19-year-old gunman who killed a teacher and a 15-year-old girl at a St Louis high school was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and what appeared to be more than 600 rounds of ammunition, the local police commissioner, Michael Sack, said on Tuesday.Orlando Harris also left behind a handwritten note offering his explanation for the shooting on Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts high school. Tenth-grader Alexandria Bell and 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczka died, and seven students were wounded.The Associated Press contributed reporting
Progressive Democrats retract Biden Ukraine letter after furious debate
Dramatic U-turn from progressive caucus, withdrawing letter sent to US president urging talks to end war in UkraineThe chair of the progressive caucus of the US House of Representatives, Pramila Jayapal, has retracted a letter sent by 30 of the members urging Joe Biden to engage in direct talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine following a heated debate within the Democratic party about future strategy over the conflict.In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, Jayapal made a dramatic U-turn, scrapping the letter that had been sent to the White House the previous day and implying it had all been a mistake. “The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting,” she said. Continue reading...
What a relief! Sunak the Sensible is here and the chaos has all magically gone away | Marina Hyde
Forgive me for not buying the line that the rise of our third prime minister in 50 days is proof that ‘the system’ worksHere we are, then. The UK prime minister has regenerated as Rishi Sunak, after several seasons of some of the worst writing in political primetime, which occasionally looked capable of killing off the entire franchise. The country has its first British Asian prime minister, which is a truly significant historical moment. It would be nice to think that people who can accept Downing Street being cast in this way will eventually be able to handle the really important roles – like telly time-travellers and movie spies – being played by non-white actors, without losing their minds and reaching for the word “woke”.On Tuesday morning, Liz Truss addressed the nation in Downing Street, and shared the key takeaway of her stint as the shortest-serving prime minister in British political history: she was right, and everyone else was wrong. Hey, she’s Elizabeth Seneca Truss, and she will have her hot take – in this life or the next. The rest of us are merely tasked with living through the clean-up. On which note, Jeremy Hunt’s Halloween budget is likely to be so horrifying it can go trick-or-treating dressed as itself. Continue reading...
Putin's wild claims of a dirty bomb show just how badly his army is faring | Hamish de Bretton-Gordon
With his conventional warfare campaign failing, the Russian leader is reaching for ever more desperate tacticsPutin’s conventional army is being defeated by a much smaller force, albeit one backed by the west’s latest technology and intelligence. His ridiculous claim that Ukraine is planning to use a “dirty bomb” – an explosive device containing radioactive material – implies he is now groping towards more unconventional methods of warfare.This is unsurprising when we see how poorly the Russian army is performing, which presumably Putin is also seeing. Putin’s response has been to appoint General “Armageddon” Surovikin as his overall commander in Ukraine, and the dirty bomb allegation is right out of Surovkin’s playbook.Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a former commander in UK and Nato CBRN forces, a chemical and nuclear weapons expert and an adviser to the Union of Syrian Medical Charities Continue reading...
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