Robotic PM displayed zero awareness in radio interviews of the damage she has doneFirst, an apology. I should never have christened Theresa May “the Maybot”. With hindsight, she appears positively emotionally present. Touchy-feely. Almost functional. If not entirely competent. Certainly not the 1980s piece of Amstrad junk she always seemed when she was running the country. If you can call it that.But the Tories are just playing with us. It’s as if the members said: “So you think David Cameron is useless? Just wait until we give you Theresa.” And once we’d all had about enough of May, they gave us a narcissistic, sociopathic liar instead. Continue reading...
Thomas, who contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin in weeks after election, gives voluntary interview on Capitol HillThe conservative activist Ginni Thomas, the wife of the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, appeared on Thursday for a voluntary interview with the House January 6 committee.The committee had for months sought the interview in an effort to know more about Thomas’s role in trying to help Donald Trump overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden. Continue reading...
Moments before a reporter for First Coast News was due to go on air in Jacksonville, Florida, powerful gusts from Hurricane Ian blew over a shopping centre sign behind her. The storm has caused widespread destruction and flooding across the state since it made landfall on Wednesday, and Joe Biden has declared a federal emergency. More than 2m homes and businesses have been left without power
Philanthropist former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos married science teacher Dan Jewett last yearMacKenzie Scott, the novelist and billionaire philanthropist who was formerly married to the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, has filed for divorce from her second husband.Citing court records, the New York Times reported that Scott filed for divorce from Dan Jewett in Washington state on Monday. Continue reading...
Lawsuits accuse maker of gun used in attack of illegally targeting ads at young men at risk of committing violenceSurvivors of the mass shooting at a suburban Chicago Fourth of July parade and family members of those killed filed 11 lawsuits on Wednesday against the manufacturer of the rifle used in the attack, accusing Smith & Wesson of illegally targeting ads at young men at risk of committing mass violence.The sweeping effort by dozens of victims of the Highland Park shooting, anti-gun violence advocates and private attorneys is the latest attempt to hold gun manufacturers accountable for a mass killing despite broad protections in federal law. Continue reading...
‘Major, major’ storm, estimated to be 140 miles wide, sweeps inland after causing huge flooding on coast, with millions of residents in its path. Plus, life on the climate frontline
In midtown Manhattan, volunteers receive families bussed from the south amid simmering political and legal rowsThe buses all had something unusual in common: even though they had traveled the length of the country the luggage compartments were eerily bare.The vehicles’ giant front windows reared around the corner, faces peeping through tinted glass for a first glimpse of New York City. Continue reading...
People like Celia shouldn’t have to gamble with their lives. We need more rigorous checks and tests on “free from” productsThe last time I saw my big sister Celia was at our leaving party in July 2017. My family was uprooting from the UK to Melbourne, Australia. She was full of life and looking forward to visiting us in our new home. But on 27 December that year, Celia went on a shopping trip in Bath and died of anaphylaxis after eating a contaminated vegan rainbow vegetable wrap bought from Pret a Manger that was labelled as dairy-free.Celia was highly allergic to dairy and scrupulously avoided it in her diet. Last week, more than four and a half years later, the coroner at her inquest ruled that Celia’s death was from anaphylaxis caused by the milk protein found in the contaminated dairy-free yoghurt used in the wrap that she consumed that day.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...
‘Major, major’ storm, estimated to be 140 miles wide, sweeps inland after causing huge flooding on coast, with millions of residents in its pathHurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US mainland, has battered south-west Florida with high winds, rain and storm surges as it weakened and moved inland.More than 2m homes and businesses were left without power as the storm swept ashore in south-west Florida on Wednesday afternoon, bringing “catastrophic” 150mph winds and a deadly storm surge of up to 18ft. Hours later, the storm – estimated to be about 140 miles wide – was downgraded from a category 4 to a category 1 storm as it moved slowly north-east, causing major flooding. Continue reading...
We’re only three weeks into the 2022 campaign but the league has already thrown up some unexpected twistsDoug Pederson deserves a ton of credit for Jacksonville’s turnaround. He’s installed an imaginative yet simple offense that has helped unlock the potential of Trevor Lawrence. But while Pederson and Lawrence have drawn the early-season acclaim, it’s Jacksonville’s defense that stands out. Continue reading...
The temperatures fall, and the kids and I – as if hypnotised – find ourselves driving out of town for some ritual apple-pickingIt was a long weekend in New York last week, where the schools closed for the Jewish New Year and New Yorkers reckoned with an annual tradition. “Let’s go apple-picking,” someone says, and every year you insist you’ll resist. The 80F (27C) heat; the dust; the bumper to bumper New York plates; and the task itself – picking sodding apples you will never, ever make into a pie (when, in your entire life, have you ever made a pie?) – none of that matters. Like a trigger from a hypnotist, hear those words and you, a city person, are compelled by some law of physics to rent a car, identify a farm and drive out to fulfil your autumn quest in a jacket too warm for the day.This year, we tried to at least use our years in the trenches to make the experience less onerous. Drive 45 minutes out of town to a field in New Jersey and you’ll find yourself less in a farm than a giant car park. (This is the same, semi-metropolitan zone that three months hence will offer ski slopes with 3cm of snow, warmed by the heat of 8 million New Yorkers). This year, we would do it properly and drive two and a half hours north west into rural Pennsylvania. We would stay with friends who knew what they were doing. We would find the one apple-picking experience that, unlike that of all the other cosplaying city folk, would bring us convincing insights into rural life.Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Former president reportedly asked indelicate question at White House in January 2017 when Johnson was foreign secretaryIn his first White House meeting with a major foreign leader, Donald Trump asked Theresa May: “Why isn’t Boris Johnson the prime minister? Didn’t he want the job?”At the time, the notoriously ambitious Johnson was foreign secretary. He became prime minister two years later, in 2019, after May was forced to resign. Continue reading...
Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman reveals racism, transphobia and ignorance from ex-president’s time in powerIn a meeting supposedly about campaign strategy in the 2020 election, Donald Trump implied his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, might be brutally attacked, even raped, should he ever go camping.“Ivanka wants to rent one of those big RVs,” Trump told bemused aides, according to a new book by Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, before gesturing to his daughter’s husband. Continue reading...
Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US, swept ashore in south-west Florida on Wednesday afternoon, bringing 'catastrophic' winds of 150mph (241km/h) and a deadly storm surge of up to 18ft (5.5m)
Anthony John Graziano allegedly killed his estranged wife and fled with the girl, who died amid a desert gunfight after a police chaseA 15-year-old girl was killed during a shootout with police in California’s high desert on Tuesday, along with her father who had allegedly killed the teen’s mother.Savannah Graziano died amid a gunfight between officers and her father after an extensive chase across southern California highways. Authorities said the girl, who was wearing tactical gear, died after running toward sheriff’s deputies during the gunfire. Continue reading...
Four people swam to shore and three were rescued but others remain missing, officials sayA search is under way for more than 20 people off the coast of Florida after their boat sank shortly before Hurricane Ian made landfall on Wednesday.Four Cuban migrants swam to shore in the Florida Keys and three others were rescued from the ocean after their boat sank on Wednesday, but others are still missing, officials said. Continue reading...
Lawyer, who says he no longer poses a risk, files request to reverse California governor Newsom’s decision to deny Sirhan paroleSirhan Sirhan, who assassinated presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy in 1968, is asking a judge to free him from prison by reversing a decision by the California governor to deny him parole.Sirhan shot Kennedy in 1968 at the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles, moments after the US senator from New York claimed victory in California’s pivotal Democratic presidential primary. He wounded five others during the shooting. Continue reading...
As parts of the island languish without electricity, people worry about the worsening after-effects of the storm“Hurricane” is an Indigenous word, used by Cubans long before the Spanish conquistadores arrived. So when Hurricane Ian – with sustained wind speeds of more than 200km/h (124mph) – made a direct hit on the provincial capital of Pinar del Río on Tuesday, people were ready.Just hours after the worst of the storm passed, amid broken glass and lashing winds, hotel worker Nieves Oliva, 60, was even dancing to reggaeton on a battery-powered speaker after a long, wet night guarding the city’s main hotel. Continue reading...
Nelson, 49, fell down narrow slope on ski back to camp after scaling Nepali peak of Manaslu with partnerThe body of the renowned US big-mountain skier Hilaree Nelson was found on Wednesday morning after she fell down a narrow 5,000ft slope during a trek in the Himalayas two days earlier.Nelson and her partner, Jim Morrison, had scaled the 26,781ft peak of Manaslu on Monday morning. They reached the summit at 10.42am “in tough conditions”, Morrison wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. The pair transitioned from climbing to skiing down to regroup with their sherpa team. Continue reading...
Phones reportedly confiscated amid criminal investigation about missing text messages from January 5 and 6US Secret Service leaders confiscated cellphones from 24 agents involved in the response to the Capitol attack amid a criminal investigation about missing text messages from 5 and 6 January 2021, according to a new report.Citing “two sources with knowledge of the action”, NBC News said the phones were handed to Joseph Cuffari, the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, in late July or early August, shortly after Cuffari launched an investigation requested by the National Archives. Continue reading...
New guidelines put forward by Republican Glenn Youngkin would restrict protections for transgender studentsThousands of Virginia high school students walked out of school on Tuesday to protest proposed guidelines put forward by Governor Glenn Youngkin that would restrict protections for transgender students.Students from nearly 100 high schools staged walkouts across the state to protest against the new policies, holding signs criticizing the guidelines and waving pride flags in support of their LGBTQ+ peers. Continue reading...
The Labour leader has finally hitched himself to some bold policies. But can he be trusted to come good on them?When Keir Starmer assumed the Labour leadership two years ago, both the party’s left and right flanks feared that they were heading for a repeat of the Ed Miliband era. For the left, this meant a lack of a radical alternative to Tory rule; the right, meanwhile, was worried he would engage in a heretical repudiation of Blairite nostrums. Miliband’s tortured tenure as leader of the opposition reflected his own internal conflict between the radicalism of his Marxist father and his background as a New Labour adviser: his flirtation with an analysis of a broken economic system was not matched by the transformative policies required to fix it.How appropriate, then, that it is Miliband himself – who concluded that his lack of boldness fatally undermined his own leadership – who has played a pivotal role in arming Starmer’s Labour with substantial policies. His influence could be seen in the party’s commitment to invest £28bn a year in a transition to a green economy, and to slash energy bills through the introduction of a windfall tax on fossil fuel profits. In Starmer’s conference speech, it manifested itself again: in the creation of a publicly run energy company that will own and operate renewable energy assets, and a sovereign wealth fund. Thanks to the determination of Labour’s transport secretary Louise Haigh, the party is officially committed to rail nationalisation, while her colleague Lisa Nandy has adopted a mantra of “council housing, council housing, council housing”. Continue reading...
Electricity grid collapses in Cuba after hurricane passes through, as 2.5 million people in Florida ordered to evacuateResidents in Florida were bracing on Wednesday morning for the landfall of a storm that had strengthened overnight into a category 4 hurricane and left Cuba without power after the entire country’s electricity grid collapsed in its wake.Many businesses in Florida have shuttered and officials ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate. The National Weather Service forecasts the center of Hurricane Ian to move over central Florida by Wednesday evening. It has already picked up wind strength close to 155mph (250km/h), though it is expected to slowly weaken as it makes landfall. Continue reading...
There’s nothing nostalgic about the far-right political space that the country’s new leader is trying to carve out in EuropeItaly, wrote the situationist philosopher Guy Debord in 1968, “sums up the social contradictions of the entire world”. As such, it was a “laboratory for international counter-revolution”.Political analysts the world over are now busy parsing Giorgia Meloni’s statements to determine if she is a fascist, a neofascist or a post-fascist. Why, they ask, are Italians seemingly willing to consider a return to the politics of their country’s darkest hour?Lorenzo Marsili is a philosopher, activist and founder of European Alternatives and Fondazione Studio Rizoma. He is the author of Planetary Politics: a Manifesto Continue reading...
Gregg Berhalter is executing a masterclass in managing expectations downwards as the World Cup approaches. But that doesn’t mean all is lostThe US men’s national team drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in Spain on Tuesday in their final game before their opening World Cup clash against Wales on 21 November. Following on from Friday’s tame 2-0 loss to Japan in Germany, these were two tune-ups that served to underline the team’s shortcomings rather than solve them, played in low-key atmospheres that felt more like pre-season friendlies than the last international fixtures before a World Cup. Continue reading...
The Biden administration is hosting a conference to coincide with a new hunger and nutrition plan – what can it achieve?The Biden administration is hosting a one-day conference on Wednesday on hunger, nutrition and health, bringing together advocates, researchers and activists and leaders in business and philanthropy, faith groups and communities around the US. Continue reading...
Kate Brown has granted more commutations or pardons than all of Oregon’s governor from the last 50 years combinedLast October, Kate Brown, the governor of Oregon, signed an executive order granting clemency to 73 people who had committed crimes as juveniles, clearing a path for them to apply for parole.The move marked the high point in a remarkable arc: as Brown approaches the end of her second term in January, she has granted commutations or pardons to 1,147 people – more than all of Oregon’s governors from the last 50 years combined. Continue reading...
Climate crisis has upped the ante in the state where progress has been hampered despite a considerable budget allocationIt was already approaching 100F on an early summer afternoon in Calaveras county, California, as six firefighters clad in heavy gear fed bushes and branches into the remote-controlled wood chipper following in their steps.The men were clearing drying and dying plants from the rustic terrain in this rural area near the Stanislaus national forest, that could otherwise serve as fuel for the next big wildfire. Continue reading...
Island’s electricity grid collapses after hurricane hits, as people in Florida told to evacuate. Plus, Bowie’s Starman lyrics fly at auctionGood morning.Hurricane Ian has caused Cuba’s electricity grid to collapse, leaving the entire country without power, as residents in Florida braced for the arrival of an expected catastrophic category 4 storm.Where is Hurricane Ian heading? The powerful storm is heading directly for Florida’s south-western coast, after striking Cuba with winds of 125mph (205km/h). The storm is expected to intensify in strength as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico and west of Florida’s southern tip on Tuesday night, before heading toward the Tampa Bay region.How is Florida getting ready? Officials put the region under a hurricane warning, alerting people of catastrophic storm surges, high winds and flooding. Businesses in Florida were shuttering and officials ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate before it crashes ashore today.What did he say? “Congress’s process for counting the presidential electors’ votes was written 135 years ago,” McConnell said. “The chaos that came to a head on January 6 of last year certainly underscored the need for an update.” Continue reading...
White House officials announced the donations came from private corporations and non-profits alikeMore than $8bn has been pledged by private corporations and non-profit groups to help Joe Biden achieve his goal to end hunger and cut diet-related diseases, White House officials announced on Wednesday.Donors include food industry lobby groups, pharmaceutical companies, the world’s second largest meat packing company, medical associations, a film studio, as well as philanthropic foundations and universities.The National Restaurant Association (NRA) will help 45,000 restaurants including fast food chains Subway, Burger King, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Chipotle to create healthier meals for children. The NRA has repeatedly lobbied against increases to the federal minimum wage, which experts say would help tackle poverty and hunger.Tyson Foods will invest $255m in providing food banks with “nutritious protein products” and reduce salt in their processed foods. Tyson has been fined at least $158m since 2000 for employment, antitrust and environmental violations.Google will launch a new search feature that should make it easier for people to check their eligibility and apply for food stamps.Food delivery app Instacart will work with USDA to allow customers to use food stamps and other benefits; launch a feature that allows healthcare providers and nutritionists to create shoppable lists for disease-specific diets; and new stipend technology that permits employers and health providers to allot stipends to buy designated fresh foods. Continue reading...
A selection of photographs and documents signed by their subjects are to be offered at auction this week. The sale includes Neil Armstrong’s photo of Buzz Aldrin on the moon, a portrait of Rosa Parks on a bus and Nick Ut’s image of Kim Phuc fleeing napalm in Vietnam Continue reading...
I tried to fit in with my white friends by smothering my hair with painful chemicals – until I decided to have the Big ChopIt was a hot, humid day when I decided it was time for the Big Chop. My body wanted to go home, but my heart guided me to the Dominican barbershop in my neighbourhood in New York instead. The man sitting in a blue folding chair out front eyed me curiously as I approached.I’d walked by the man countless times before, but we’d never spoken. Not until now, as I asked if he would cut off my hair. He frowned, unsure of what I was asking. But when I pointed at my relaxed, or chemically straightened, hair and made sweeping snip-snips with my fingers, he gestured for me to follow him. Little did he know that his agreement would change my entire life.Zakiya Dalila Harris is an American writer based in New York and the author of the novel The Other Black GirlDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...
Pennsylvania governor hopeful Doug Mastriano made comments in 2019 while discussing abortion bill he proposed as state senatorAsked in 2019 if he was saying women should be charged with murder for violating an abortion ban he proposed, Doug Mastriano, now the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, said: “Yes, I am.”Mastriano was talking to WITF, a radio station, about a bill he sponsored as a state senator. Continue reading...
Republican governors have sent thousands of people to the city this summer, maxing out its shelter systemIn the summertime, Orchard Beach is one of the Bronx’s most popular places to party. Here on the edge of a woody peninsula about an hour’s drive from midtown Manhattan, barbecue smoke floats over a backdrop of reggaeton; crowds gather on the boardwalk for Salsa Sundays.But now, the beach is transforming into an unprecedented shelter for a new group of people. Within weeks, as many as 1,000 recently arrived migrants will be placed under huge tents in the beach’s parking lot. And while officials say they won’t stay more than a few days, advocates worry the migrants could end up languishing in the tents as winter arrives, in an area that’s also known for dramatic floods. Continue reading...
With the macho incumbent cornered by a centre-left coalition, he may try to attempt a US Capitol-style coupAs Brazil prepares to head to the polls in early October, the country is bracing for a change of course. Its far-right incumbent president, Jair Bolsonaro, will have to pull off the seemingly impossible to defeat his centre-left rival. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the two-term former president, is consistently polling between 45% and 47%. Currently, Bolsonaro trails Lula’s 10-party coalition by 12 points. A run-off election on 30 October seems likely.But, on the defensive, Bolsonaro has borrowed a page from Donald Trump’s playbook. If you lose, simply blame the press, the polls and the voting machines. If you can get the armed forces or militias to intervene, all the better. After all, Brazil has experienced four successful military takeovers since the country became a republic in 1889, one of which lasted 21 years. Although in the United States generals refused to aid Trump in overturning the election results, it is still not clear if their Brazilian counterparts will do the same. So far, the electoral campaign has been marred by violence from Bolsonaro’s supporters towards Lula’s Workers’ party, which has led to at least two deaths.James N Green is professor of Brazilian history and culture at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and president of the board of directors of the Washington Brazil Office Continue reading...
Storm bearing down on Florida nixes session that had been expected to feature footage of Trump ally Roger StoneThe House January 6 select committee announced that it would postpone what was expected to be its final investigative hearing scheduled for Wednesday over concerns about a hurricane and as it considers how best to present a number of unresolved questions surrounding the US Capitol attack.“In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s proceedings,” the panel’s chairman Bennie Thompson and the vice-chair Liz Cheney said in a joint statement. “We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path.” Continue reading...
Legislation would clarify and expand parts of 1887 Electoral Count Act and aim to avoid repeat of January 6 insurrectionThe Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Tuesday he would “proudly support” legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th-century law and avoid any repeat of the January 6 insurrection.The legislation would clarify and expand parts of the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which, along with the constitution, governs how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential winners. Continue reading...
Mirage Secret Garden and Habitat temporarily shut after third dolphin fatality in five monthsA dolphin habitat at a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip has been temporarily closed after the third mammal death at the attraction in five months.Officials at the Mirage Secret Garden and Habitat said an 11-year-old bottlenose dolphin named K2 died on Saturday. Continue reading...
Roughly 10% of the force had their guns and arrest powers stripped after an internal audit of psychological examsA northern California sheriff’s department stripped 47 deputies – 10% of the force – of their guns and arrest powers because they failed psychological exams, it was reported on Monday.It was “horrible″ to have to relieve the deputies of their duties, said Lt Ray Kelly, spokesperson for the Alameda county sheriff’s office, to KTVU-TV. Continue reading...
Republican Ken Paxton allegedly ran out of his house and jumped into truck driven by his wife to avoid person serving subpoenaThe Texas attorney general Ken Paxton ran out of his house and jumped into a truck driven by his wife, a state senator, to avoid being served a subpoena to testify Tuesday in an abortion access case, according to court documents.A process server wrote in an affidavit that he was attempting to deliver the federal court subpoena Monday at Paxton’s home and ultimately had to leave the document on the ground. He said the Republican avoided him for more than an hour from inside his house, then dashed toward the truck and the couple drove off. Continue reading...
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