Provocative congressman, who long claimed his innocence, was focus of long-running investigation by justice departmentRepresentative Matt Gaetz, a Republican known for his strong support of former president Donald Trump and membership in the archconservative Freedom Caucus in the House, said on Wednesday that the justice department has ended a sex trafficking case with no charges against him.The lawmaker, who represents much of the Florida panhandle, issued a statement through his congressional office that the long-running investigation was over. Gaetz had insisted throughout he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Continue reading...

It’s not a failure of collective willpower that’s jeopardising our health, but a diet of bad food that’s culturally familiar, low in nutrition and super availableWestern culture bears a weight that it struggles to shift. Two recent stories perhaps expose why.The first is an investigation by Australia’s drug regulator into online influencers and platforms promoting a diabetes drug for weight-loss. Ozempic is on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme for treatment of type 2 diabetes but has been prescribed “off label” by doctors to those struggling to manage their weight. Continue reading...

In an emotionally charged sentencing hearing a man rushed at the convicted Buffalo shooter, Payton Gendron, before guards restrained him and escorted Gendron out. The incident happened as Barbara Massey Mapps, the sister of one of Gendron’s victims, was expressing her anger at him. ‘You are going to come to our city and decide you don’t like Black people. Man, you don’t know a damn thing about Black people,’ said Mapps. She added: ‘We never go to no neighbourhoods and take people out,’ before the unidentified man in a grey tracksuit shoved past her and lunged at Gendron

Comments by You actor Penn Badgley are the latest in a conservative move away from celebrating eroticism on-screenTwitter may be slowly decaying, but it still finds a way to generate a minor sex panic. The latest micro-iteration blazing through one corner of the pop culture sphere: Penn Badgley, best known for playing Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl and as the star of Netflix’s You, said that he no longer wished to act in sex scenes, citing fidelity to his wife. According to his podcast, Badgley asked You showrunner Sera Gamble for a reduction in intimate scenes in the show’s fourth season, which premiered last week; his character, the disarmingly bookish serial killer/love addict Joe Goldberg, still has sex in the new season but less so than in prior ones, and fully clothed.Specific contractual clauses regarding intimacy on camera are not new – Julia Roberts is one of many actors who’ve said they’ll never do on-screen nudity, for example. And Badgley is certainly entitled to his own boundaries. (A new Variety story connects his reluctance to film intimate scenes to his feelings of discomfort as a child actor.) But a segment of the Twittersphere’s extension of his personal logic into an argument against sex on-screen in general, and the conflation the professional performance of intimacy with individual fidelity, feels disturbingly puritanical. Some have expressed distaste at any on-screen nudity, or asserted that most sex scenes are gratuitous, unnecessary and rife with issues of consent. Continue reading...

The American actor has died at the age of 82. In 1966, her appearances in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years BC, wearing a fur bikini, shot her to stardom. Here we look back at her life and career.

Haley, 51, cast herself as an agent of change who could transform a nation inflicted with ‘doubt, division and self-destruction’Republican Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and a UN ambassador under Donald Trump, formally launched her campaign for president on Wednesday, calling on Americans to reject the “stale ideas and faded names of the past” and to instead put their faith in a “new generation” of political leaders.Appearing publicly for the first time since declaring her candidacy, Haley, 51, cast herself as an agent of generational change who could transform a nation gripped by “doubt, division and self-destruction”. Continue reading...

Actors at dinner theater say company has blocked efforts to raise wages and improve safetyFrom queens to knights, actors at a southern California medieval-themed dinner theater have left the castle.The Orange County Register reported on Monday that about 50 performers and stable hands have gone on strike at Medieval Times about 30 miles south-east of Los Angeles in Buena Park, California. Continue reading...

Lewis Kaplan says Trump has missed his chance to provide DNA sample to rebut allegations first made by Carroll in 2019 bookDonald Trump missed his chance to use his DNA to try to prove he did not rape the writer E Jean Carroll, a federal judge said on Wednesday, clearing a potential roadblock to an April trial.The judge, Lewis A Kaplan, rejected the 11th-hour offer by Trump’s legal team to provide a DNA sample to rebut claims Carroll first made publicly in a 2019 book.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

Funding for the EV charging network comes from the infrastructure bill that allocates $7.5bn to the expansionThe White House is partnering with Tesla to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the US, with the company opening at least 7,500 of its chargers to all electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of 2024, the White House announced on Wednesday.Tesla charging stations currently use a certain power connector that require non-Tesla EVs to use an adapter. The White House said that Tesla will work to include at least 3,500 new and existing 250 kW superchargers along highways and level 2 destination chargers at locations like hotels and restaurants across the country. Tesla is also planning to double its network of superchargers. Continue reading...

Sentencing for Payton Gendron disrupted as man in courtroom charges towards him before being restrainedA white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, last year was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after listening to relatives of his victims express their pain and rage.The sentencing hearing for Payton Gendron was disrupted when he was charged at by a man in the audience who was quickly restrained. It resumed after about 10 minutes, with more emotional testimony from people who talked about losing loved ones in the attack. Continue reading...

Residents near the deadly accident on Interstate 10 outside Tucson told to evacuate on TuesdayThe deadly crash of a commercial tanker truck caused hazardous material to leak onto Interstate 10 outside Tucson on Tuesday, shutting down the key highway through Arizona and forcing evacuations near the accident.Residents within a half-mile (800 meters) were ordered to leave and those within a mile (1.6km) were told to shelter in place for several hours after liquid nitric acid was determined to be leaking from the tanker, the Arizona department of public safety said. Continue reading...

Rare and in some cases never before publicly seen video of a 1986 dive through the wreckage of the Titanic is being released by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. More than 80 minutes of footage on the institution's YouTube channel on Wednesday chronicle some of the remarkable achievements of the dive led by Robert Ballard. The expedition marked the first time human eyes had seen the ocean liner since it struck an iceberg and sank in the frigid North Atlantic in 1912. The footage was released to mark the 25th anniversary of the Oscar-winning film Titanic Continue reading...

Eric Adams gets split decision while spokesman says: ‘One decision is clear, however: the mayor still hates rats’In the latest round of his long battle against rats, the New York mayor, Eric Adams, scored a split decision on Tuesday when a hearing officer dismissed one summons while upholding another citing Adams for not doing enough to keep rodents at bay at his Brooklyn townhouse.Adams was fined $300. A spokesperson, Fabien Levy, said the mayor was “grateful” one summons was dismissed and would consider his options about the second. Continue reading...

The surf spot is a subway ride from Manhattan, and it welcomes a diverse community connecting to nature and each otherIt’s a silver-blue January morning with no separation between sky and water, and a diverse line up of surfers take in their ritual. The waves come choppy, clean, short, thick, fast, chest high and occasionally over my head. On this frigid day I’m encouraged to surf with a longboard, and I’ve almost forgotten to don my cap. The wind greets my face and I howl in return, grateful. I look around after finishing my ride and see people simmering in joy. These are the scenes at New York’s Rockaway Beach, a harbor for Black surfers.Coming from the security of snow-blanketed mountain peaks to the crashing, storm propelled waves of the east coast, I’ve stumbled on a dynamic community of surfers: artists, activists, community leaders, film-makers, and creatives. Surfers mending the world through their connection to the sport. Continue reading...

Allowing controversial ‘fortress Europe’ policies to become mainstream puts the EU’s cohesion and world standing at riskEuropean Union leaders want to reinforce their controversial “fortress Europe” policies by clamping down even harder on inward migration. This reveals a deep and self-defeating disconnect between the 27-nation bloc’s internal actions and its international aspirations.The EU’s self-image is that of a benign power and a force for global good. European leaders spend a lot of time telling the world about the virtues of “European values”. There is even an EU commissioner whose sole task it is to promote the “European way of life”. Other countries are constantly taken to task, often through the imposition of sanctions, for their failure to align with international human rights standards. Continue reading...

Democrats attempted to advance bills requiring secure storage of firearms and expanding background checks for gun buyersLess than a year before a gunman attacked Michigan State University’s campus on Monday, killing three students and injuring five, Republican legislators in the state rejected an opportunity to change gun regulations.In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Michigan Democrats attempted to advance bills requiring secure storage of firearms and expanding background checks for gun buyers. Six months earlier, a shooting at Oxford high school near Detroit had also reinvigorated Democratic efforts to change Michigan gun laws. But the gun bills were blocked by Republicans, who controlled both chambers of the state legislature. Continue reading...

Police killings of any sort account for nearly 5% of all homicides, with at least 1,192 people killed by law enforcement in 2022In the US, an estimated one in 20 gun homicides are committed by police, as law enforcement killings have failed to decrease despite years of nationwide protests.Law enforcement officers killed at least 1,192 people in 2022, the highest number recorded in a decade, according to Mapping Police Violence, a prominent non-profit database of police killings. More than 1,100 people were killed by the police in both 2020 and 2021. The vast majority of these deaths were police shootings. Continue reading...

Female farmers represent an increasing share of Golden State cultivators – and grow a wider variety of ‘specialty crops’ than done in traditional monocultureAt Radical Family Farms, Leslie Wiser recently planted bitter melons, what she refers to as “one of our most beloved crops”, a staple in many types of Asian cuisine that grows on a vine and is related to zucchini, squash and cucumber. It was a warm day on her three-acre farm, yet the cloud cover made it just right to be working on what Wiser says is her “dreamy but expensive” mixed-Asian vegetable farm that she started in 2018.“Regenerative climate, smart farming takes a lot of time,” said Wiser, the child of Chinese-Taiwanese, German and Polish-Jewish immigrants who came into farming in her early 40s. She dreamed about growing vegetables that reflect her heritage and teach her children where their food comes from, and this is exactly what she’s doing. Continue reading...

Former South Carolina governor and daughter of Indian immigrants aims to be standard bearer of party fired by race and gender fights while not alienating Trump supportersAs the Republican governor of South Carolina in 2015, Nikki Haley stood shoulder to shoulder with political leaders from across the state to call for the removal of the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds. Days before, an avowed white supremacist who posed with the flag in photographs massacred nine Black parishioners at a church in Charleston.As her state – and the nation – reeled from the heinous act, Haley argued that the flag embraced by many southerners as a symbol of “noble” traditions was for too many others “a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past”. Continue reading...

Tal Hanan, the mastermind of the ‘Team Jorge’ unit, claims covert involvement in 33 presidential elections. Plus, the truth about caffeineGood morning.A team of Israeli contractors who claim to have manipulated more than 30 elections around the world using hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation on social media has been exposed in a new investigation.How did undercover reporters catch “Team Jorge” disinformation operatives on camera? For more than six months, undercover reporters posed as consultants working on behalf of a businessman who wanted to delay an African election.How does the unit spread disinformation? Advanced Impact Media Solutions, or Aims, which controls more than 30,000 fake social media profiles, can be used to spread disinformation at scale and at speed. It is sold by “Team Jorge”.What’s happening in France? France’s most-watched news channel, the 24-hour BFMTV, has suspended one of its longest-serving presenters and launched an internal investigation into news packages linked to an Israeli disinformation unit calling itself “Team Jorge”.What else did Whitmer say? “We know this is a uniquely American problem … Our children are scared to go to school. People feel unsafe in their houses of worship, or local stores. As parents, we tell our kids it’s going to be OK. But the truth is words are not good enough. We must act and we will.”Who were the victims? They have been named as Alexandria Verner, Brian Fraser and Arielle Anderson. All three came from the suburban Detroit area. Continue reading...

Republican-proposed jurisdiction fuels allegations of ‘apartheid in Jackson’Eighty per cent of the white residents in Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city would be included in a proposed new judicial district with hand-selected prosecutors and judges, an analysis by the Guardian has found, leading to further allegations of deliberate racial prejudice in a Republican-backed bill.The measure would increase the geographic size of an improvement district in the downtown area of the city of Jackson from 7.8 square miles to 25 square miles. It would create a new unelected judicial district within the city, with two judges, two prosecutors and two public defenders. Continue reading...

Former Labor prime minister says incident has created ‘diplomatic clouds’ that may overshadow efforts to stabilise relationshipThe incoming Australian ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, has warned the Chinese balloon saga has created new “diplomatic clouds” that put at risk recent efforts to ease tensions between Beijing and Washington.In a speech in Brisbane on Wednesday, Rudd also warned against expecting any “softening in China’s ideological cleavage with the west”. Continue reading...

Black longtime residents fear the economic boost from the $500m project will not reach them and that it could make their communities unaffordableFor five years, Kiera Hardin lived on the 15th floor of an apartment building along South Shore Drive, within eyeshot of the Obama Presidential Center, a sprawling 19-acre area that will be home to a public library branch, playground, community centers and a museum.It was her first apartment. She could smell Lake Michigan when she stepped outside and see the purple and orange skies as the sun rose and fell. But last summer her rent dramatically rose following renovations, and suddenly the 30-year-old program coordinator could no longer afford to live in her building. Hardin suspected that the building’s owners saw projections of how the neighborhood would change. Continue reading...

Clip released on day of Republican’s announcement that she will challenge Donald Trump for nominationShortly after Nikki Haley announced her campaign for president on Tuesday, footage was released showing the Republican former South Carolina governor saying states have the right to secede from the union.“I think that they do,” Haley said in the footage, which Patriot Takes, an anonymously run social media account and fundraising Pac which claims to “monitor and expos[e] rightwing extremism and other threats to democracy”, said came from 2010 and featured an unnamed neo-Confederate group. Continue reading...

Edwin Castro won record-breaking Powerball jackpot on 8 November – and opted to take the over $997.6m lump sumThe winner of the largest ever lottery jackpot described himself as “shocked and ecstatic” as officials revealed his identity, satisfying a law in his state, California.Edwin Castro bought the ticket that won the record-breaking $2.04bn Powerball jackpot on 8 November. Instead of choosing to collect the full prize through an annuity over 29 years, he opted for an immediate lump sum of more than $997.6m – the more common path for people in his position. Continue reading...

Lamar Johnson, sentenced to life for the killing, was released after judge found ‘reliable evidence of actual innocence’A Missouri judge on Tuesday overturned the conviction of a man who has served nearly 28 years of a life sentence for a killing that he has always said he didn’t commit.Lamar Johnson, 50, closed his eyes and shook his head slightly as a member of his legal team patted him on the back when Judge David Mason issued his ruling. In coming to his decision, Mason explained that there had to be “reliable evidence of actual innocence – evidence so reliable that it actually passes the standard of clear and convincing”. Continue reading...

Attorneys were involved in compiling subpoenaed documents and have searched Mar-a-LagoThree lawyers for Donald Trump recently appeared before a federal grand jury as part of the special counsel investigation into his possible retention of national security materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

University students Alexandria Verner, Brian Fraser and Arielle Anderson were all from suburban Detroit areaOne was a fraternity chapter president. Another was a science student with fond memories of her days as a high-school athlete, and the third was a frequent volunteer who wanted to become a surgeon.Family and friends mourned the deaths of three Michigan State University students killed in a Monday night shooting that critically wounded five others. Continue reading...

Flying objects could be commercial- or research-linked, while US military admits first shot at object over Lake Huron missedThree unidentified objects shot down by US fighter jets since Friday may turn out to be balloons connected to “benign” commercial or research efforts, a White House official said on Tuesday.The US has not found any evidence to connect the objects to China’s balloon surveillance program nor to any other country’s spy program, national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, told reporters. Continue reading...

We will have only ourselves to blame for the evaporation of humanity in medicine if we keep narrowing the role of doctorsFor the short time I have known the patient, I have only seen him in bed. On a good day, he has sat up but my defining memory of him will be his sheer inability to go from bed to chair without gasping for breath, as intolerable to witness as it must be to bear. His usual doctor has run out of options. So it falls to my inpatient team to broach the subject of what next, a difficult conversation for any terminally ill patient no matter how well prepared.“How are you?” I ask. Continue reading...

Professor says his selection was dropped for describing Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ and accusing Jeffries of being ‘bought’ by AipacThe Biden administration has withdrawn the nomination of a leading law professor to an international human rights post, for describing Israel as an “apartheid state” and accusing the top Democrat in Congress of being “bought” by pro-Israel groups.James Cavallaro, of Wesleyan and Yale universities, said he was told by the US state department on Tuesday it had dropped his selection to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) “due to my statements denouncing apartheid in Israel/Palestine”. Continue reading...

Gretchen Whitmer calls for action on ‘uniquely American problem’ after gunman kills three Michigan State students and wounds fiveThe governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, denounced the “uniquely American problem” of gun violence on Tuesday, after a gunman murdered three students in a mass shooting at Michigan State University the night before.Whitmer spoke at a press conference in East Lansing at which authorities identified the shooter, who died by suicide, and revealed other details about the attack that left five students critically wounded. Continue reading...

Feinstein, who has sat in US Senate since 1992, sets off race among Democrats to succeed to vacant seatDianne Feinstein , the 89-year-old senator from California who has served in the chamber for three decades, said she will not seek re-election in 2024.“I am announcing today I will not run for re-election in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement. Continue reading...

Daniel Rodriguez, 40, from California, admitted his part in violent assault of then Metropolitan police officerA California man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to using a stun gun to attack Michael Fanone, the Washington DC police officer who was seriously injured while trying to defend the US Capitol from Donald Trump’s supporters on 6 January 2021.Daniel Rodriguez, 40, of Fontana, admitted to taking part in the violent assault on Fanone, now a former Metropolitan police officer, after another rioter dragged Fanone into a crowd outside a tunnel where police were trying to beat back the mob. Continue reading...

Franchise company, with more than 37,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, could be valued at more than $10bnFast-food chain Subway has put itself on the menu – announcing on Tuesday it is exploring a possible sale of its business after 58 years of family control.After years of rapid growth, rising costs and mounting competition from rivals have taken their toll on the company in recent years, but it still has more than 37,000 restaurants in over 100 countries – making it one of the largest chains in the world. Continue reading...

The Canadian territory is an aircraft graveyard – now the difficult search is on for a downed unidentified craft in its vast environsThe rugged, “unpeopled” landscape of Canada’s Yukon territory is a graveyard for aircraft, with more than 500 planes crashing in its forests, mountains and lakes over the years.Now, Canada’s military and police, alongside their US counterparts, are searching the unforgiving landscape in midwinter for a mysterious object recently shot on Saturday by a fighter plane. Continue reading...

Attorney general says state will be ‘digging deep to find out’ why Anthony McRae, who killed three students, was carrying gunMichigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, said on Tuesday she was demanding answers about the probation served by a gunman who killed himself after shooting dead three students and wounding five others in a mass shooting at Michigan State University on Monday night.Anthony McRae, 43, served the probation after admitting to possession of a concealed weapon without a permit in 2019. Continue reading...

Letitia James celebrates court ruling ordering ex-president to pay $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with subpoenasDonald Trump is “not above the law”, the attorney general of New York state said on Tuesday, celebrating an appeals court ruling which said the former president must pay a $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a fraud investigation of his company and financial affairs.In a statement, Letitia James said: “Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump is not above the law. Continue reading...

Gen Mark Milley said the Russians were 'paying an enormous price on the battlefield'. The chair of the joint chiefs of staff was speaking on Tuesday at a joint press conference with the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin. Milley said the majority of fighting was occurring around the city of Bakhmut, which he described as a 'significant grinding battle of attrition'

At least two students caught up in deadly attack that killed three on Monday went to high school where shooting occurred in 2021At least two students caught up in the deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University (MSU) on Monday night were living through their second such nightmare in a little over a year, having endured a shooting that killed four at their high school in November 2021.Jennifer Mancini said that her daughter had lost two of her closest friends during the shooting at Oxford high school near Detroit in 2021 and, now a freshman at Michigan State, found herself hiding from a gunman on Monday night and calling home in terror saying: “Mom, get me out of here.” Continue reading...

Scandal-ridden New York Republican congressman restates his determination not to resign as investigations continueThe scandal-ridden New York Republican congressman George Santos has restated his determination not to be forced out of the US House, vowing: “I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down.”Santos broadcast his defiance on Twitter on Tuesday. Continue reading...