Shell casings painted and auctioned, Russian books pulped to raise money, institutions renamed: the resistance has many guisesThe festival of St Tryphon – the patron saint of winemakers – attracted no tourists this year. This saint is very much loved in Bessarabia, the largely ethnic-Bulgarian area of Ukraine’s Odesa region, where the February feast is always a much-awaited event. This year, villagers pruned their vines and celebrated quietly by themselves.Given the tragedy of the war in Ukraine, this tradition could have been abandoned altogether, for a number of local men have died at the front, and in the village cemeteries, their graves are still fresh. But to give up the tradition would be a form of capitulation and no one is prepared to do or even think about that.Andrey Kurkov is a Ukrainian novelist and the author of Death and the PenguinDo 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...

Decision means word cannot be restricted in US only for kind made originally in France or SwitzerlandA US appeals court has ruled that the word “gruyere” is a common label for cheese and cannot be reserved just for the kind made originally in France or Switzerland.The US does not have the same strict rules as Europe on the designation of origin for foods, said judges in the Richmond, Virginia-based US court of appeals for the fourth circuit. Continue reading...

Suella Bravermans new street harassment law still places the onus on women to report abuse – instead of catching the men who do itI don’t know if you’d heard this, but exercise is good for you, according to a new study. Unfortunately, lots of women are giving up on it because of fears for their safety. I’m one of them. And I really miss it.Research by This Girl Can, a campaign run by Sport England, has identified what it calls an exercise “enjoyment gap” between men and women. It found that three in 10 women have experienced harassment while exercising, mostly in parks or on the street, and that fear and rage is driving them back to their sofas. I used to go running in parks and streets, and for many years it made me so happy. I was slow and stupid-looking and never went far, but the day I clocked up 1,000 miles on my running app; the first time I ran six miles in a row, on my birthday; seeing herons and deer – they were moments of joy. Sometimes, when nobody was looking, I would run down a hill with my arms in the air and pretend that I was flying. Continue reading...

House Democrats issues’ conference sees lawmakers across party’s ideological spectrum embrace idea of president’s re-electionWith the 2024 election season already under way, Joe Biden has faced questions over whether he is best suited to represent the Democratic party at the top of the ticket next year. Surveys show that Americans fret over his age, as Biden would be 86 years old at the end of his second term.Progressives have previously shied away from offering a full-throated endorsement of Biden’s re-election bid. But those whispers quieted to near silence at House Democrats’ issues conference in Baltimore, Maryland, this week. Rather than wringing their hands over the president’s anticipated announcement, House Democrats from across the party’s ideological spectrum embraced the idea of Biden’s re-election. Continue reading...

War emerges as a wedge issue in the forthcoming Republican primary election as far right at CPAC call for US to end supportMarjorie Taylor Greene, an influential far-right Republican in Congress, has called for the US to stop aid to Ukraine, giving added voice to a grassroots revolt in the party that threatens bipartisan support for the war against Russia’s Vladimir Putin.The Georgia congresswoman is a notorious provocateur who has made racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic statements and promoted bizarre conspiracy theories. Continue reading...

The sentencing of Isabella Pollok, ex-ally of a cult leader, resurfaces thorny questions about the likes of Bonnie Parker and Patty HearstIt was in her second year of college that a not-quite-20-year-old Sarah Lawrence student, Isabella Pollok, fell under the influence of Lawrence Ray, a cult leader who, for a decade, turned her into his trusted lieutenant in his campaign of terror.Pollok was sentenced to 54 months in prison last week for her role in helping Ray abuse a group of vulnerable classmates. While in Ray’s thrall, Pollok, who was also his lover, even played prop master at his late-night torture sessions, allegedly fetching the plastic bag that Ray placed over one coercively prostituted cult member’s head. Continue reading...

Julio Ramirez, 25, and John Umberger, 33, were drugged and robbed while leaving gay bars last yearTwo men who were fatally drugged in New York City while leaving gay bars last year and whose bank accounts had been drained were both homicide victims, according to the local chief medical examiner’s office.The medical examiner said Friday that the deaths of social worker Julio Ramirez, 25, and political consultant John Umberger, 33, were caused by a “drug-facilitated theft”, NBC News reported. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Author and academic cautions pushback against racial justice education feeds revival of segregationist policiesThe professor who is a leading voice on critical race theory has warned that the rightwing battle against racial justice education not only threatens US democracy, but encourages a revival of segregationist values and policies.Kimberlé Crenshaw is among top American academics and authors recently stripped from the latest draft of the advanced placement (AP) African American studies course being piloted in US high schools, after Florida’s rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, led an aggressive backlash against it. Continue reading...

The focus is often on rich countries when it comes to corruption initiatives but the situation is so embedded in these islands that it demands greater attentionWhen Transparency International published its 2022 corruption perception index (CPI) at the end of January much was written about some of the rich countries that saw significant falls in their scores. Austria, Canada and Luxembourg were among those who fell, while the UK slipped to its worst-ever position on the index, dropping from a high score of 82 in 2017 to 73 in 2022.Corruption initiatives worldwide seem to have run aground as the countries perceived as the least corrupt have shown little or no improvement, as seen with Germany, France and Switzerland. Continue reading...

Patricia Kopta was believed to be dead after disappearing in 1992, until authorities found her in a care home thousands of miles awayA Pennsylvania woman who went missing from her husband more than 30 years earlier and was even legally declared dead has been found alive in Puerto Rico, according to authorities.Cases where people mysteriously disappear don’t often result in the missing being found alive decades later. But 82-year-old Patricia Kopta has proven to be an exception, now being treated for a dementia diagnosis at an adult care home about 1,700 miles (2,700km) away from where she went missing. Continue reading...

Shasta county officials have ended their contract with Dominion Voting Systems, leaving them with no replacementProponents of the lie that the presidency was stolen from Donald Trump are eying an often overlooked region of California as they continue to promote falsehoods around the 2020 election: Shasta county, population 182,000.Shasta county, a conservative stronghold in the state’s far north, recently ended its contract with Dominion Voting Systems, the voting machine company that has been the subject of a conspiracy theory that it played a role in swinging the election for Biden. The move has left the semi-rural county without a voting system and no replacement ready to implement when its Dominion contract ends next week. Continue reading...

The leading chronicler of a dynasty’s collapse calls it ‘a huge wake-up call to people who have been abusing the system’Mandy Matney was at her home in Hilton Head, South Carolina, video-chatting with true-crime fans when a Colleton county jury found Alex Murdaugh guilty of killing his wife and son on Thursday.“I wasn’t mentally prepared for this to happen today!” exclaimed the foremost chronicler of the Murdaugh dynasty’s collapse. Continue reading...

Republican attorneys general threatened the company with legal consequences for sending pills by mailWalgreens will not distribute the abortion pill mifepristone in nearly two dozen conservative states after Republican attorneys general threatened the largest US pharmacy companies with legal consequences for sending abortion pills by mail.The decision, first reported by Politico, came weeks after the attorneys general sent a letter to Walgreens and CVS arguing that sending abortion pills by mail would violate federal law and abortion laws in those states. A spokesperson for Walgreens said the move was in response to that letter. Continue reading...

2024 contender points out in speech the party has lost popular vote in seven of last eight presidential elections

Former president drops charity song on streaming sites recorded with men imprisoned for their role in attack on US CapitolDonald Trump has released a charity single, recorded with a choir of men held in a Washington DC prison for their parts in the deadly January 6 insurrection he incited.On Friday, Justice for All by Donald J Trump and the J6 Prison Choir was available on streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. Continue reading...

Ex-UN ambassador and 2024 contender presents herself as face of ‘new generation’ in pitch to CPAC crowd still wedded to TrumpThe Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley ventured on to Donald Trump’s stomping grounds on Friday, seeking support from rank-and-file Republicans who are “tired of losing”.In remarks to a half-full ballroom at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Haley presented herself as the face of a “new generation” of Republican leaders, making her pitch to a crowd still overwhelmingly loyal to Trump, her 76-year-old former boss and rival for the party’s nomination.. Continue reading...

Storm system leaves thousands without power in Texas and Louisiana and is heading east toward New EnglandA relatively powerful storm system headed east on Friday threatened the midwest and north-east US with heavy snow after spawning likely tornadoes in Texas and Louisiana which damaged homes, businesses, a university campus and left thousands without power.The Tennessee and Ohio valleys are bracing for high winds and potential tornadoes as the storms roll on toward New England, according to officials. Continue reading...

President’s doctor Kevin O’Connor says basal cell carcinoma was removed from chest and ‘no further treatment is required’Joe Biden had a cancerous skin lesion that cannot metastasize or spread removed last month during his annual physical, the White House confirmed on Friday.“The president had a skin lesion removed from his chest,” Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in a letter released to the press. Continue reading...

Incident took place in 2021, but warrant was issued in 2022 and she was arrested in February, police confirmA woman in South Carolina has been arrested and charged for allegedly trying to induce her own abortion using medication.The woman was reported by staff at a hospital in Greenville, South Carolina, after visiting a hospital in October 2021 with labor pains. Ultimately, she delivered a stillborn fetus at about 25 weeks and four days of pregnancy. In an incident report, staff claimed the woman had admitted to having taken abortion pills in an attempt to end her pregnancy. Continue reading...

German chancellor’s working visit to the White House focuses on continuing support for Kyiv

Belated recognition for Paris Davis came after the recommendation for the medal was lost, resubmitted – and then lost againNearly 60 years after he was first recommended for the nation’s highest military award for his bravery during the Vietnam war, retired colonel Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers to lead a special forces team in combat, received the Medal of Honor on Friday.The belated recognition for the 83-year-old Virginia resident came after the recommendation for the medal was lost, resubmitted – and then lost again. Continue reading...

Automaker would remotely disable the vehicle or a component of the vehicle if delinquency notice isn’t acknowledgedBehind on your car payments? Your car could soon be driving itself to the pound. Ford Motor Company has applied for a patent that would enable a computer to disable a vehicle or component of a vehicle over delinquent car payments and could lead to cars self-driving themselves to repossession lots.The patent application published last month claims to seek a solution to car owners being unwilling to have their vehicles repossessed by remotely disabling the vehicle or a component of the vehicle if a delinquency notice isn’t acknowledged over a certain period of time. Continue reading...

Axios reports Trump’s intention to attack Florida governor for disloyalty as he prepares for likely face-off in presidential primaryThe incipient Republican civil war between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis heated up on Friday, with news of how the former US president reportedly plans to attack the rightwing Florida governor in the coming 2024 presidential primary.Citing “sources and friends familiar with Trump’s thinking”, the news website Axios reported that the former president plans to attack “Ron DeSanctimonious, as he delights in branding the governor”, in areas including perceived disloyalty, support for changes to Social Security and Medicare and his response to the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...

Former US government analyst announces on Twitter diagnosis with inoperable pancreatic cancer and says he has months to liveDaniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers – which detailed secrets about US policy during the Vietnam war – and became one of the world’s most famous whistleblowers, has terminal cancer and expects to die within months, he has announced on Twitter.Ellsberg, 91, tweeted late on Thursday that doctors have diagnosed him with inoperable pancreatic cancer after he underwent a scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for an unrelated, “relatively minor” medical issue. Continue reading...

Sentencing came little more than 12 hours after South Carolina attorney was found guilty of 2021 killingsAlex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney found guilty in the murders of his 22-year-old son Paul and his wife Maggie, has been sentenced to life in prison..Murdaugh’s sentencing in Judge Clifton Newman’s court came little more than 12 hours after the 54-year-old disbarred lawyer was found guilty on two counts of murder in the June 2021 killings, as well as two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Continue reading...

South Carolina lawyer, 54, to be sentenced on Friday after jury returns guilty verdict following three hours of deliberationRichard “Alex” Murdaugh has been found guilty of the murders of wife Maggie and son Paul, after a six-week televised trial that culminated with the defendant unexpectedly taking the stand to plead his innocence.The jury returned with the verdict after three hours of deliberation. Murdaugh was found guilty on two counts of murder and two weapons-related charges. Continue reading...

Verdict in case of prominent South Carolina lawyer accused of 2021 double homicide. Plus, scientists discover how whale got voice

Our legislation will help to address the wrongs of what happened in OhioOn February 3, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio, just across the state line with Pennsylvania. A fire erupted, an evacuation order was issued, and the dangerous chemical being transported, vinyl chloride, was spilled. It’s a devastating tragedy and one that could have been prevented.One of us represents constituents in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and the people who live, work and play just miles from the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment. The other has spent six years visiting factory towns, rural communities and working on policies to bring manufacturing and technology jobs to communities decimated by globalization. Residents are scared about their health and livelihoods. They are unsure whether the air, water and soil will be safe after this disaster. They want answers, accountability and assurance that something like this will never happen again.Congressman Chris Deluzio is a US representative from Pennsylvania’s 17th districtCongressman Rohit Khanna is US representative from California’s 17th congressional district Continue reading...

Report shows pace has slowed, however, with 70 law enforcement deaths recorded in the line of dutyCovid was the top cause of death in the line of duty for American law enforcement for the third year in a row in 2022, according to a recent report, though the pace has slowed.When the pandemic first hit, many law enforcement officers did what they could to lower the risks of catching Covid-19 – taking some reports over the phone rather than in person, trying to limit contact within departments and with the public. Continue reading...

The former Lakers guard is trying to become one of only four players to graduate to officiating in the league. He says his experience is a valuable toolFormer Los Angeles Lakers point guard Smush Parker says he was “born with a basketball.” Both of his parents were ardent players, so Parker has been around the game since he was an infant. Now, though, he’s more likely to have a whistle in his hand. Yes, the 41-year-old is looking to become just the fourth former NBA player to referee in the league. But he says it’s no easy task to master the ropes.“I never liked referees when I was a player,” says Parker, with a laugh. “I was an up-and-coming player, I wasn’t one of the stars. So, there were a lot of calls that didn’t go in my favor.” Continue reading...

A platform that can mimic humans’ writing with no commitment to the truth is a gift for those who benefit from disinformation. We need to regulate its use now

There must be outside intervention to facilitate new negotiations with the Palestinians – and international pressure to halt his excessesWe are seeing the worst violence for many years erupting in Gaza and the West Bank. I have just returned from a week in Israel, my first visit since 1994. I spent half the trip with Labour Friends of Israel, a grouping of like-minded Labour MPs, and half with the New Israel Fund, an NGO that funds organisations that promote democracy and equality for all Israelis, based on the vision of Israel’s founders. A packed itinerary enabled me to see what had changed.I have always supported the untrammelled right of Israel to exist and, like many others, have advocated for a two-state solution, ensuring a stable and secure home for Palestinians and Israelis alike.Margaret Hodge is MP for Barking and the parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour MovementDo 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...

In some ways, Trump may be even more difficult for his Republican rivals to beat next year than he was seven years agoIt’s worth remembering that most Republican voters didn’t back Donald Trump in the race for the party’s nomination in 2016. Trump came away with something like 45% of the vote in the Republican primaries; though the field had by then shrunk to just three candidates – Trump, John Kasich, and Ted Cruz – polls showed Trump struggling to hit 50% support among Republicans as late as early April of that year.Most explanations for his victory justifiably center around his political style and the rise of the rightwing populism we’ve come to call Trumpism ⁠– though it significantly predated Trump ⁠– among a growing share of Republicans. But as a practical matter, Trump won the Republican nomination in 2016 for a very simple reason: he built and kept a large minority of incredibly loyal supporters within the party, while the majority of Republican voters, who would have preferred another candidate, split their votes among too many alternatives. Had they united behind one candidate early enough in the race, Trump may well have lost. Instead, they divided themselves into defeat.Osita Nwanevu is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

The former president has not made a weekday showing on the channel since appearing on Sean Hannity’s show in SeptemberFox News has imposed a “soft ban” on Donald Trump appearing on the channel, his inner circle is reportedly complaining, even as the broadcaster extends a warm invitation to other Republican hopefuls in next year’s presidential election.The news startup Semafor reports that the cooling of relations between the former president and his once-beloved cable news channel has gone so far that a “soft ban” or “silent ban” is now holding Trump at arm’s length. The former US president has not made a weekday showing on Fox News since he chatted with his closest friend among the network’s star hosts, Sean Hannity, in September. Continue reading...

Austin Locke was sacked days after he helped unionize workers. A monumental new labor law means he’s back on the jobAustin Locke was halfway through his shift at the New York City Starbucks where he’d worked for three years when his supervisor ordered him into the back room. The store manager and the district manager were there too, and they had a piece of paper for him: he was fired.“Are you sure want to do this?” Locke asked them repeatedly. He knew that what they were about to do was illegal. Continue reading...

CDC reports confirmed case of measles in unvaccinated and contagious individual who attended large gatheringAround 20,000 people may have been exposed to measles at a large religious event in Kentucky, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and said.In a statement to the Guardian, the CDC said it was “aware of a confirmed case of measles in an unvaccinated and contagious individual who attended a large religious gathering in Kentucky on 17 and 18 February. Continue reading...

I was in South Carolina last week: scene of the trial and home of the Murdaugh dynasty. Both tell us a lot about race and power todayThere have been bigger trials with splashier consequences, but for pure drama – and a window on the way entrenched privilege works in the US south – the events unfolding this week at the Colleton county courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, are hard to match. In the dock: the 54-year-old Alex Murdaugh, scion of a legal dynasty stretching back 100 years, who has been found guilty of murdering his wife and son. That is the matter at hand and it is lurid enough: 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh and his mother, Maggie, found shot to death in 2021 in the grounds of the family’s hunting lodge, 65 miles west of Charleston – killed by Alex, say prosecutors, to distract attention from his financial crimes.Behind the double murder, however, lies layer upon layer of further alleged criminal activity, from vast embezzlement from the family law firm, to cover-up, to the involvement of Paul in a drunken boat crash in which a 19-year-old died, and for which the 22-year-old was facing trial at the time of his murder. Three months after the killings, someone shot Alex Murdaugh in the head – an act, it is alleged, that Murdaugh commissioned himself, paying a gunman to kill him so his surviving son could collect on insurance. Meanwhile, the death of the family housekeeper in 2018 has been the subject of renewed police interest.Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

Nearly unprecedented levels of snow have buried the park, with the powder piling up to 15ft deep in some areasYosemite national park has closed indefinitely, according to officials, as the park grapples with extensive snowfall that broke a 54-year-old daily record.Nearly unprecedented snowfall across the US west has buried the park in snow up to 15ft deep in some areas. Parts of the west coast have seen record-breaking snow in recent days in what officials are calling a “once in a generation” event. Continue reading...

Defense says in final arguments South Carolina police ‘failed miserably’ to consider alternative suspects in death of wife and sonAfter nearly six weeks of testimony, jurors in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial heard the final arguments from opposing legal teams, as presiding judge Clifton Newman prepared to hand them the case for deliberations.In the last hours of a trial that has gripped the US with its complex blend of deep south violence, power and fraud, defense lawyer Jim Griffin told the court that investigators had “failed miserably” in their investigation of the deaths of Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and son Paul, and he accused them of “fabricating evidence”. Continue reading...

Subcommittee will look into alleged campaign violations and sexual misconduct by Republican who admitted to lying

Petition for initiative that would secure constitutional right to abortion will now go to state’s ballot board for approvalReproductive rights groups in Ohio cleared a significant hurdle on Thursday in their effort to bring a ballot initiative before voters that would secure a constitutional right to abortion.The Ohio attorney general, Dave Yost, approved a petition brought by campaigners looking to bring the ballot initiative to voters in November 2023. The petition will now go to the Ohio ballot board for approval, which has 10 days to approve or reject it. Continue reading...

Tennessee lawmaker Paul Sherrell faced fierce criticism for ‘grotesque suggestion’ in southern state with history of lynchingsA Tennessee Republican lawmaker apologised after suggesting “hanging by a tree” could be added to a bill concerning methods of execution in the state.Paul Sherrell, a state representative from Sparta, made the suggestion on Tuesday, during discussion of an amendment which would allow execution by firing squad in Tennessee. Continue reading...

Bipartisan panel will look into alleged misconduct by Republican congressman who has admitted to lying about his résuméThe House ethics committee has opened an investigation into George Santos, the Republican lawmaker who admitted to lying about his résumé in his campaign to represent part of New York City’s suburbs in Congress’s lower chamber.A bipartisan statement from the committee’s GOP chair, Michael Guest, and the Democratic ranking member, Susan Wild, said the panel voted to create a subcommittee to look into alleged misconduct by Santos. Continue reading...