Violent funnel with gusts reaching up to 110mph ripped through roofs and scattered debris high into the airThe National Weather Service (NWS) has confirmed that the violent funnel of swirling winds that ripped through roofs and scattered debris high into the air near downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday was indeed a tornado – and the strongest one the area has seen in more than three decades.It was the second tornado to touch down in southern California this week in an area unaccustomed to facing that particular kind of extreme weather. “It’s definitely not something that’s common for the region,” said NWS meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld, noting that the last time the weather service’s LA office sent out tornado assessment teams was in 2016. Continue reading...

Her final first minister’s questions was a sad moment for the outgoing SNP leader but was business as usual for the Scottish ToriesSome rage against the dying of the light. Boris Johnson is howling into the wind. Crying out for meaning, begging for attention. Anything but be forgotten. But his time is up. All that remains for him is life as another old curiosity on the after-dinner speaking circuit. A job he hates almost as much as he hates himself for doing it. He despises the people – the little people – to whom he is obliged to talk. Most of whom only listen with one ear open at best. He is the amuse-bouche entertainer who has backed himself into a narcissistic cul-de-sac.Others, though, leave the political stage at a time of their own choosing. On their own terms. Just over a month ago, Nicola Sturgeon surprised even her closest allies by announcing she was standing down as leader of the SNP. Some bits of her resignation statement didn’t quite make sense. She claimed her party was in good health and never nearer to achieving independence. In which case why walk away now? But the other, more personal stuff, felt real. She had had enough. Her entire adult life devoted to frontline politics. She just wasn’t feeling it so much any more. She wanted more Nicola time. Continue reading...

The international criminal court’s issuance of an arrest warrant for the Russian president over Ukraine is welcome. It needs supportIt is entirely likely that Vladimir Putin may never be held fully accountable for his crimes. But the possibility of eventual justice grew somewhat brighter with the international criminal court’s decision last week to issue an arrest warrant for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children.The compelling evidence of the forced transfer of thousands of children for adoption or to “re-education camps” is appalling. But this is only one of many horrors that Mr Putin has unleashed on Ukraine. There is growing support for prosecuting him for the invasion itself, which would require the creation of a special tribunal as the crime of aggression is not within the ICC’s scope. These calls are made in part because it is usually hard, if not impossible, for war crimes investigators to prove that those at the top sanctioned atrocities on the ground. Mr Putin can, however, be clearly linked to the abductions. Last month, the children’s rights commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, indicted alongside the president, appeared on television thanking him for her “adoption” of a 15-year-old boy from Mariupol. This is the beginning of the case against Mr Putin, not necessarily the end. Continue reading...

A week that began with a bang fizzled out as grand jury unlikely to deliver verdict in hush money payment case until next weekOver the weekend Donald Trump set off an international maelstrom of media attention when he announced he would be “arrested on Tuesday”.Like so many of Trump’s certain proclamations, it proved to be throughly wrong, and the grand jury weighing whether to charge Trump over payments to an adult film star is now unlikely to deliver its verdict until next week. Continue reading...

Body found after shooting occurred at East high school in Denver, wounding two administratorsA body found in the Colorado woods near an abandoned car was that of a 17-year-old student accused of wounding two administrators in a shooting at his Denver high school on Wednesday, a coroner’s office said.The Park county sheriff, Tom McGraw, said the body was discovered on Wednesday not far from the student’s car in a remote mountain area about 50 miles south-west of Denver, near the small town of Bailey. The town had been ordered to shelter in place while officers from agencies including the FBI combed the forest. Continue reading...

Alvin Bragg writes to committee chairs seeking his testimony saying there is ‘no legitimate basis for congressional inquiry’The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, on Thursday accused Republicans in the US Congress of interfering in his investigation of Donald Trump over a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.A letter from House Republicans demanding testimony and documents related to the investigation “only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested … and his lawyers repeatedly urged you to intervene”, Bragg wrote in a letter of his own. Continue reading...

There are invigorating versions of Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma! and Cabaret in London – and some enticing new dramas coming – yet theatre risks being cut off from its pastDavid Hare has argued this week that musicals are strangling the growth of straight plays in the West End. I have some sympathy with his point, but it is one that could have been made anytime in the past two decades, during which there has never been less than 25 tune-and-toe shows in the commercial sector. What is curious is Hare’s timing, since right now three London theatres traditionally associated with straight plays happen to be housing quite exceptional musicals.Hare seizes on Oklahoma!’s occupation of the beautiful Wyndham’s theatre. Director Daniel Fish, however, has done precisely what the best directors of classic plays have been doing for ages: he gives us a fresh perspective on a familiar work without (well, almost without) altering the text. Instead of the usual gung-ho hymn to rural America, we get a dark, disturbing study of the victimisation of the outsider – in this case Jud Fry – by a small, self-regarding community. Continue reading...

Hosting of Out and Equal Workplace summit is seen as response to governor’s fight against LGBTQ+ rights in FloridaDisney is pushing back against Florida’s rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights by hosting a major LGBTQ+ conference.The Out & Equal Workplace summit has touted itself as the “largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world” and draws more than 5,000 attendees annually. For the next two years, the Out & Equal non-profit which focuses on LGBTQ+ workplace equality will be held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, the Miami Herald reports. Continue reading...

Regulators plan to put an end to businesses ‘tricking’ customers into paying for services they no longer wantIt is one of the ires of the digital age: signing up for a new subscription can be done in a few clicks, but cancelling it later is often difficult and can sometimes feel almost impossible.Now the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is trying to change that for customers in a new proposal that would require companies with customers on recurring payment programs to offer easy online cancellation. Continue reading...

Clip shows officer intercepting package in Cary, North Carolina, amid a standoff between a Swat team and an armed suspectAn Amazon delivery driver in the US delivered a package during a police standoff with an armed hostage-taker, with the dangerous exchange caught in a viral video.The handoff happened last month but recent video of the delivery has spread widely, snagging over 6m views on TikTok. Continue reading...

Kristina Karamo says she will not be ‘intimidated’ into withdrawing tweet despite outcry across political spectrumThe chair of the Michigan Republican party refused to withdraw a comparison of proposed gun control laws to the treatment of Jewish people in Nazi Germany, despite outcry across the political spectrum.Kristina Karamo, a far-right election denier who took charge of the Michigan GOP in February, said she would not be “intimidated or bullied” for equating state efforts to introduce safe gun storage regulations and universal background checks to actions by the Nazi regime which murdered approximately 6 million Jewish people and hundreds of thousands from other groups.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

Richard Eckstrom was placed under harsh spotlight after blunder that lay undetected for nearly 10 years was discoveredThe South Carolina comptroller general, Richard Eckstrom, will resign next month after a $3.5bn accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.The state’s chief accountant, a Republican, will leave the elected post he has held for 20 years on 30 April, according to a copy of the resignation letter obtained by the Associated Press. Continue reading...

A Fox News journalist reporting on a shooting at a Denver high school on Wednesday was reunited with her son in an emotional on-air moment. Alicia Acuna spotted her son, a student at East high school, as she was reporting from the scene where a 17-year-old student had shot and wounded two school administrators. ‘Excuse me, my son just came up, and I had not seen him,’ Acuna says in the middle of the broadcast, before embracing him. East high school was placed on lockdown as police investigated the shooting

Ashish Jha, Joe Biden’s Covid response coordinator, likely to leave the administration once emergency team is dissolvedThe White House plans to disband its Covid response team in May, according to reports, with some staff members having already departed as the coronavirus public health emergency designation is due to expire.The Washington Post reported that Ashish Jha, Joe Biden’s Covid response coordinator, is likely to leave the administration once the team is dissolved, as the president seeks to move forward from a pandemic which has killed more than 1.1 million in the US. Continue reading...

Likely Republican contender for White House says remark was ‘mischaracterised’ but calls Vladimir Putin a war criminalRon DeSantis has reversed his position on Ukraine, after facing widespread criticism for calling the Russian invasion a “territorial dispute”.Speaking to Fox Nation in an interview to be broadcast in full on Thursday, the Florida governor and probable contender for the Republican presidential nomination said his “territorial dispute” remark had been “mischaracterised”. Continue reading...

Texas senator claims court dominated 6-3 by conservatives after ruthless GOP power plays must remain ‘independent’The Republican senator Ted Cruz, whose party defied convention to delay then rush conservatives on to the supreme court, has introduced a constitutional amendment to stop Democrats expanding the court in response.“The Democrats’ answer to a supreme court that is dedicated to upholding the rule of law and the constitution is to pack it with liberals who will rule the way they want,” Cruz said. Continue reading...

Nuclear plant relies on single backup power line; EU leaders to discuss Ukraine’s armament needs; plus, 10 writers face their fiercest food fears

Cross-party cooperation is the key to facing down the doubters and delayers

FDA granted accelerated approval for Makena in 2011 to address issue of preemies, but major study says drug doesn’t workMakena is the only drug approved specifically to prevent premature birth, a major health issue facing children and families, in the US. In the 12 years since it was fast-tracked by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), hundreds of thousands of patients in America have received injections of Makena, which is about 5,200% more expensive than generic versions of the same medication.There was just one problem: there’s no evidence Makena actually works. Continue reading...

Messages proving network hosts and executives knew what they were saying was false and ‘reckless’ are now on record foreverAs Fox News continued to broadcast lies about Dominion voting systems and the 2020 election, Tucker Carlson, one of its star hosts used one word over and over to describe what the network was doing – “reckless”.Those messages were the first pieces of evidence Justin Nelson, a lawyer representing Dominion, displayed on Tuesday as he began his argument for why a judge should rule the network defamed his client. “Reckless was a meaningful word” – in order to win the case, Nelson has to prove that Fox acted with “actual malice” – that its hosts, producers, and executives knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard to the truth. Continue reading...

Watchdog finds PFBS toxicity value was altered in 2021 report, as scientists say episode part of ‘larger rot at the agency’Trump administration appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) meddled in agency science to weaken the toxicity assessment of a dangerous chemical, a new report by the US body’s internal watchdog has found.In response to what it labeled “political interference”, the Biden administration in February 2021 pulled the assessment, republished it months later using what it said is sound science, and declared it had resolved the issue. Continue reading...

Building through free agency is typically seen as unwise, but several teams have addressed weaknesses this month without overpayingWith Aaron Rodgers ready to depart Green Bay, the Lions are in pole position to win the NFC North. They overhauled a shoddy secondary during the early days of free agency, adding CJ Gardner-Johnson, Cameron Sutton, and Emmanuel Moseley. Continue reading...

The US is one of the few countries that allows donors – who are often struggling economically – to be paid for plasmaI was sitting in the bright sun watching a college football game next to my dad last fall, talking with him about the book I’d just finished writing and he’d just finished reading, several months before it would be released to the public.“Are there really that many people who sell plasma?” he asked. Continue reading...

One administrator critically injured and another in stable condition after shooting at East high school on WednesdayA 17-year-old student shot and wounded two school administrators at a Denver high school on Wednesday morning, after a handgun was found during a daily search of the boy that was being conducted because of behavioral issues, authorities said.Suspect Austin Lyle remained at large following the shooting at East high school and was wanted for attempted homicide. The gun he used was not immediately recovered, the Denver police chief, Ron Thomas, said. Continue reading...

Beijing is watching ‘very carefully’ how world responds to Russian aggression, says US secretary of state

Pacific storm brought damaging winds and more rain and snow to saturated state, as heavy rain and snowmelt could cause floodingThe start of spring offered little reprieve for California as another atmospheric river doused the saturated state with more rain and snow. Five deaths have been linked to the storm across the Bay Area, after thrashing winds toppled trees and branches and thousands were left in the dark across the state due to widespread power outages.California’s unexpected siege of wet weather after years of drought has loaded mountains with so much snow that roofs have been crushed and crews have struggled to keep highways clear of avalanches. Tuesday’s storm, which came on the first full day of spring following the state’s extraordinary winter, was the result of a Pacific low pressure system interacting with California’s 12th atmospheric river since late December, according to the National Weather Service, which warned that flood risks remain across the region into Wednesday. Continue reading...

Major blow to ex-president as Evan Corcoran loses legal bid to avoid giving notes and audio transcripts to investigatorsDonald Trump’s main lawyer – who was involved in turning over classified-marked documents at the Mar-a-Lago resort to the justice department last year – must provide his notes and audio transcripts to the criminal investigation after a federal appeals court rejected twin efforts to block the order.The US appeals court for the DC circuit on Wednesday rejected two separate appeals from the former president and his lawyer Evan Corcoran to stop a sealed order, piercing attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine protections issued in a court decision last week. Continue reading...

Grand jurors are considering whether to recommend charges to former president for Stormy Daniels paymentYesterday, the candidates for Wisconsin’s state supreme court election went head to head in a debate. We’ve been closely watching this race, which has huge implications for the entire country when it comes to issues like abortion, education and election law.In a packed conference room at the Wisconsin State Bar Association on Tuesday, candidates Janet Protasiewicz and Daniel Kelly clashed on questions about abortion, redistricting and public safety. The debate reflected the tone of the campaigns, with conservative candidate Kelly casting his opponent as a liar and a partisan, while Protasiewicz reaffirmed her liberal positions on issues like redistricting and abortion and pointed repeatedly to Kelly’s ties to right wing groups as disqualifying. Continue reading...

Florida governor repeats criticism of Trump in Fox Nation interview as he attempts delicate balancing actDonald Trump may be in legal trouble over his alleged weakness for vice, but his predicament is increasingly placing Ron DeSantis – his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination – in a political vise.The Florida governor must join Republican attacks on Alvin Bragg, the Democratic Manhattan district attorney whose indictment of Trump over a hush money payment to a porn star is reportedly imminent, while trying not to lose ground in a primary he has not formally entered. Continue reading...

China’s leader knows full well his country cannot pay the price – economic or political – of openly challenging the westThe three-day visit of Xi Jinping to Russia was packed with action: a crepe and quail meal, photo ops and ceremonial signings. Pomp and circumstance aside, Xi’s visit to Russia did not live up to Putin’s hopes and expectations. As it turns out, the obvious similarities between the two leaders – their autocratic hold on power and their tenuous relationship with the west – do not directly translate into common interests and goals. Xi came and went, making no firm commitments and leaving Putin and his cronies agape with disappointment.Russian hopes for this visit could not have been any higher. Russia looks to China, the only major power that has not condemned the invasion of Ukraine, as its economic bondsman, a potential weapons supplier and a “peace” advocate. From the first days of the invasion, Russian intellectuals and opinion leaders have prominently featured China as a key player that would help Russia win the war. China would jump in to substitute the lost western exports, provide Russia with much needed military equipment and supplies, and help negotiate peace on Russia’s terms. What was always missing from these accounts, however, is China’s motivation. Continue reading...

In an advertisement posted to their Facebook page, the department is seeking people who are fit, trusting and courageousThe New Mexico department of game and fish is seeking “professional bear huggers” to patrol parks and wilderness areas and potentially encounter some of the state’s 6,000 black bears.In a job advertisement posted to Facebook, the department said applicants would require fitness, trust and “courage”. Continue reading...

Manhattan grand jury on standby about meeting on Thursday as adjournment sparks flurry of speculation among Trump alliesThe Manhattan grand jury expected to consider criminal charges against Donald Trump over his role in the payment of hush money to the adult film star Stormy Daniels will not meet on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, and is on standby about meeting on Thursday.The reason for the schedule change was not immediately clear. Continue reading...

An indictment doesn’t necessarily lead to an early trial, but the Russian leader should still be suffering sleepless nightsThe announcement by the international criminal court (ICC) of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin is historically significant. In some ways, it was always inevitable: this is Putin’s illegal war of aggression, after all. But few inside or outside Ukraine believed it would happen so soon.There are obvious questions about the practicalities of delivering Putin to the court – how, where, when? (Answers: with difficulty; who knows; and not soon.) But the essential rationale is undeniable. Holding senior political and military leaders to account is exactly what the ICC was set up for, 25 years ago. If not Putin, who? Continue reading...

State could also pass harsher bill to criminalize transgender people using public bathrooms based on gender identityArkansas has become the latest Republican-run US state to ban transgender people in schools using the bathroom that matches their gender identity.The Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, signed the bill on Tuesday. It applies to multi-person restrooms and locker rooms in public and charter schools for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, ABC reported. Continue reading...

Workers hold protest in Seattle outside of Starbucks’ headquarters in response to the company’s aggressive anti-union effortsStarbucks workers at over 100 stores around the US walked out on Wednesday ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting and held a protest in Seattle outside Starbucks’ headquarters.The actions were launched in response to Starbucks’ aggressive anti-union efforts against worker organizing, which have included allegations of firing dozens of workers in retaliation for union organizing, intimidation, store closures, withholding benefits, schedule cuts and delays in bargaining a first union contract. Starbucks has denied or rejected all allegations and charges of labor law violations. Continue reading...

In everything from family life to careers, it doesn’t pay to constantly seek the next exciting thingUpon a box containing some fancy collagen supplement stuff, it said: “Life is too short for hard-to-swallow pills and boring powders.” Ain’t that the truth? How many times have I contemplated swallowing a paracetamol tablet, or wearily stirred some Andrews liver salts into water, and wailed in desperation that life is just too damn short for such chores? Never, obviously.In a similar vein, do you have an electric vehicle charger at home? Are you, you know, a bit bored with it? I mean, why wouldn’t you be? Worry not. Help is at hand. A company specialising in more exciting chargers – colour and finish combinations to choose from!” – invites you to “say goodbye to boring chargers”. Picture the scene: the whole family, dog and all, gathered together on the drive to bid farewell to the old charger. It charged very nicely but was just too darned boring. The man from Fancy Chargers Ltd has just fitted an exciting new one and he’s taking the boring old one away. You wave it off on its final journey, to landfill probably. Emotional.Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Death investigation under way after remains discovered near Humboldt on SaturdayA man searching for deer antlers in Kansas instead found a human skeleton, officials said.The Kansas bureau of investigation and the Allen county sheriff’s office were conducting a death investigation after the discovery of the remains near Humboldt, about 100 miles east of Wichita, on Saturday. Continue reading...

The second day of spring brought more wintry weather to storm-weary California on Tuesday with torrential rain and heavy winds that left homes and cars underwater. Trees and power lines were downed, leaving thousands without electricity. The state had been deep in a drought until the new year brought a series of atmospheric rivers that caused severe weather and flooding. The state's rainy season typically stretches only into the first three months of the year before falling off dramatically

Two inmates dug their way out of cell using toothbrush but were apprehended within hours at Ihop branchTwo prisoners in Virginia managed to escape their cell by digging a hole through a wall with the aid of a toothbrush but were apprehended within a few hours after being tempted to visit a pancake restaurant.In a statement, the Newport News sheriff’s office said two inmates were found to be missing during a routine head count around 7pm on Monday at the Newport News Jail Annex. Continue reading...

President Ulysses S Grant’s penchant for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage landed him in trouble with police in 1872Donald Trump may be preparing to become the first US president to be criminally indicted but should his perp walk for paying hush money to a porn star come to pass – perhaps granting his reported wish to be seen handcuffed – he will not be the first president ever arrested.In 1872, President Ulysses S Grant was nicked for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage. Continue reading...

The two-way superstar’s once-in-a-century skillset led Japan over the US to a World Baseball Classic championship while helping vault the tournament to newfound levels of popularityTuesday’s World Baseball Classic final between the US and Japan may have been played in Miami but, judging by the atmosphere throughout the stadium, Japan’s status as the home team was more than just an official designation. Although the crowd at LoanDepot Park seemed evenly split between Japanese and American factions, with frequent music and (a sincerely exhausting amount of) jumping up and down, it was the Japanese fans’ energy which electrified the stands for much of the game.Most tellingly, during the player introductions before the game, it was Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, rather than any of the American players, who received (by far) the loudest cheer. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising – Ohtani’s ability to draw a crowd is unquestionable at this point. For example, when asked what prompted them to attended Tuesday’s game despite not often attending baseball games back home, Shoko Mitomi and Kyoji Kimura of Okinawa were to the point: “We wanted to see Ohtani.” Continue reading...

We look at the new season with its many title contenders and exciting new faces on the pitch, as well as big ambitions off itThe National Women’s Soccer League commences a new season this weekend in what promises to be an exciting year in the US, straddling a hotly-contested World Cup tournament. Here are some things to keep your eye on as the NWSL’s 12 teams prepare to kick off on Saturday evening. Continue reading...

Sources say former president plans to turn appearance into a spectacle. Plus, eight things the world must do to avoid the worst of climate emergency