President-elect to be sentenced on Friday over conviction stemming from money paid to porn star Stormy DanielsDonald Trump on Monday lost a bid to put off his sentencing on Friday for his criminal conviction stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.Citing both presidential immunity and the demands of Trump's impending January 20 inauguration as the 47th US president, his lawyers on Monday morning said judge Juan Merchan's intention not to penalize Trump was of no moment". Continue reading...
Young adults living in states likely to ban abortion obtained tubal sterilizations and vasectomies in months after rulingIn the months after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, permanent contraception in the form of tubal sterilizations and vasectomies surged among young adults living in states likely to ban abortion, new research released on Monday found.Compared to May 2022, when the opinion overturning Roe leaked, August 2022 saw 95% more vasectomies and 70% more tubal sterilizations performed on people between the ages of 19 and 26, according to the study, which was conducted by researchers at the George Washington University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan. Continue reading...
Hundreds of thousands left without power and flights canceled as state of emergencies declared in several statesMillions of Americans were hit by a major winter storm on Monday that brought heavy snow, ice, strong winds and freezing temperatures as it moved east out of the center of the country and into the mid-Atlantic region, having killed at least four people the day before.The US National Weather Service (NWS) issued winter storm warnings and advisories stretching from Kansas and Missouri to New Jersey as moderate to heavy snow fell from the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic region. Continue reading...
Kamala Harris said she was simply doing her constitutional duty in presiding over the certification of her presidential election defeat by Donald Trump on Monday. The certification was over quickly after no Democrats rose to object the results from any state - in contrast with four years ago when dozens of Republican lawmakers formally disputed Joe Biden's victory in key swing states Continue reading...
Officers in Antioch near San Francisco sent racist and sexist messages and boasted about fabricating evidenceA San Francisco Bay area police department mired in scandal over racist and sexist texts implicating dozens of officers has agreed to reforms and five years of outside monitoring, the US Department of Justice announced.According to the agreement made public on Friday, the Antioch police department and the city of Antioch will select an expert law enforcement consultant approved by the justice department to review and update its practices on nondiscriminatory policing, use of force, hiring and promotions and discipline, among other topics, over a five-year period. Continue reading...
Sheriff's deputies captured the monkey, which had opened a door to escape, before arrival of winter stormA monkey in a pink tutu that slipped out of a Missouri home was captured just before a winter storm slammed the state.The Jefferson county sheriff's office described the apprehension of the primate in a Facebook post as Bananas". Continue reading...
Schiff says Trump's nominee lacks experience needed for FBI role and believes in deep state' conspiracy thinkingAdam Schiff says the deadly truck attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day demonstrates why Congress should reject Donald Trump's nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, after his second presidency begins.Kash Patel should not be confirmed," the California senator said on NBC's Meet the Press. I think the terrorist attack on New Orleans ... just underscores again the importance of having someone directing the FBI that has experience, that has judgment, that has character, [and] that will prioritize defending the country against the violence we saw in New Orleans" or that from Trump supporters during the US Capitol attack on 6 January 2021 after he lost the presidency to Joe Biden weeks earlier. Continue reading...
The UK prime minister calls out the reckless amplification of conspiracy theories by the world's richest man on child sexual abuse. GoodOn Monday, Sir Keir Starmer rightly defended robust debate but insisted it must be grounded in facts, not lies", in response to Elon Musk's falsehoods about his role in dealing with child sexual exploitation. The prime minister has wisely not engaged Mr Musk directly, partly because the world's richest man is a member of Donald Trump's inner circle. Sir Keir recognises this epistemic crisis as a coordinated campaign to spread disinformation, sow division, and erode trust. As the philosopher Lee McIntyre aptly notes: The truth isn't dying - it's being killed."The goal is clear: to create groups in society that unquestioningly accept an authoritarian leader's word. In this way, opinions are no longer based on facts but rooted in identity. Disinformation becomes a potent political weapon, making voters believe falsehoods while distrusting - even hating - those who don't. MrMusk values the power to shape belief systems to enable pliable governance. Politicians who refuse to align with his agenda can be discarded, as he bets his followers will support whichever candidate he endorses. The Reform UK leader, NigelFarage, has learned this the hard way, and the Tories' KemiBadenoch risks repeating the same error.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The world's richest man won't be satisfied until all the politicians in his pocket have submitted to his dictatorial whimsIn fiction, when a billionaire supervillain mobilises himself and his nefarious army of dollars against British democracy, we send a secret agent to have a word or two. That arm of the state is apparently inoperative, and I don't know who to blame for that, probably austerity.Instead, our first line of defence against Elon Musk has turned out to be Nigel Farage. Who could possibly have foreseen that they'd fall out, and so soon? They're both so reasonable and conciliatory.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, announced his resignation at a news conference at his temporary residence, Rideau Cottage, in Ottawa. Trudeau lost support within his party after a snowballing leadership crisis. In his speech, he said a new prime minister and leader of the Liberals will carry the values and ideas of the party in the next elections
Liverpool may have got away with one in Sunday's thrilling draw with Manchester United. But without a sustained challenge from those in chase, it may not matterTitle races are never just about the winners. In other circumstances, a run of three draws in six games for Liverpool might be cause for concern. Are they tightening up? Is there validity to that vague sense that the fixture list so far has been kind to them? But even if there is, it doesn't really matter. Before the first of those draws, at Newcastle on 4 December, they were nine points clear of Arsenal in second; after Sunday's draw at home to Manchester United, they are six points clear of Arsenal with a game in hand.And that really has been the story of the past month, the great hectic splurge of the festive period. There has been a lot of heat and light, a lot of drama and excitement, and in the end not much has changed. Liverpool were far from their best on Sunday, could easily have suffered a surprise defeat, but in seven of the last nine match days the chasing pack of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have managed one or fewer wins between them. That does, admittedly, leave Nottingham Forest, who will close to six points with a game in hand if they beat Wolves on Monday, and who are Liverpool's next league opponents, but it has been a remarkable achievement for Nuno Espirito Santo's side to get to where they are; realistically there is going to be some drop-off in the second half of the season. Continue reading...
As the group of four people went up a steep slope a large slab of snow broke away and slid, burying the victimAn avalanche killed one skier and injured another after the group they were in triggered the large snowslide while ascending a mountain in western Wyoming.The avalanche happened on Saturday in a backcountry area about 20 miles (32km) east of Grand Teton national park. Continue reading...
by Leyland Cecco in Toronto and Oliver Holmes on (#6TBTT)
Under-fire leader of Liberal party to speak about his political future at Rideau Cottage on MondayThe Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is expected to announce on Monday that he plans to step down, local media have reported, after a snowballing leadership crisis during which he lost support from within his own party.The prime minister's office said he would speak about his political future from Rideau Cottage, his temporary residence, at 10.45 am. The press conference marks the first time that he will have answered questions from reporters since November. Continue reading...
Many accused or convicted of participation in the attack on the US Capitol in 2021 believe deliverance is nearJake Lang, a January 6 defendant accused of beating police officers outside the Capitol during the insurrection, sent out a mass text message at the end of 2024 looking ahead to what he feels will be a promising year for him and hundreds of others involved in the attack.Hey its Jake Lang!! The January 6 Political Prisoner!! I'll be sending you IMPORTANT updates on this number," the text read. I'll be home VERY SOON!!! God bless!!" Continue reading...
Companies say Biden's blocking of the proposed purchase over national security concerns violates constitutionUS Steel and Nippon Steel have filed a lawsuit against Joe Biden's order that blocked the $14.9bn buyout of the American steelmaker by the Japanese company, they said on Monday.The lawsuit asked the court to set aside the review process of the committee on foreign investment in the US and Biden's order, citing violation of the constitutional guarantee of due process and statutory procedural requirements, as well as unlawful political influence". Continue reading...
Observers raise alarm about how pardons for convicted Capitol attackers might weaken US criminal justice systemAs Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, politicians, legal observers and even sitting federal judges are expressing alarm about his stated intention to pardon or offer commutations to supporters who attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 and were then convicted of crimes.Clemency for those who sought to block certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory would undermine the US judiciary and criminal justice system and send a message to Americans that attacking US democratic institutions is appropriate and justifiable", said a spokesperson for the Society for the Rule of Law. Continue reading...
The Brutalist, Emilia Perez and Shgun won big at the 82nd Golden Globes, the unofficial kick-off to this year's awards season. The low-budget immigration saga and the Netflix crime musical picked up big wins for film, while the historical epic dominated the TV awards
While this is by no means health advice, these are a few things I've found helpful in case you're also feeling sober curious'Tis the season to drink far too much and then vow that, next year, you'll never drink again. Or at least, it used to be that season. These days, young people simply aren't that interested in boozing. Gen Z drinks about 20% less alcohol per capita than millennials like me did at their age, according to a report from Berenberg Research.While my generation grew up with it being completely normal - even encouraged - to drink irresponsibly, gen Z seems to be disarmingly sensible. They've managed to make sobriety trendy and have rebranded responsible drinking as being sober curious". Now a new trend has apparently taken off: intermittent sobriety" - which, as far as I can tell, basically just means taking time off now and again from drinking.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
House speaker says party seeks single piece of legislation covering tax cuts, immigration and military spendingDonald Trump is working with top Republicans in Congress to devise a single big, beautiful bill" that will contain all of his major policy ambitions - including a clampdown on immigration, tax cuts, and increased military spending in an attempt to supercharge his radical agenda as he embarks on a second presidency.The plan to pile all of Trump's main policy goals into one mega-bill, against the wishes of some top congressional Republicans, raises the prospect of months of potentially bruising political in-fighting needed to secure its passage. Though the Republicans hold both chambers of Congress, their margin in the House is the slimmest in almost a century. Continue reading...
Details about Utah-based Robert Kinch, who backed race war', suggest rightwing militia has retained links with policeThe man in control of the Utah-based rightwing militia Oath Keepers USA, a recent spinoff of the national organization first established by Stewart Rhodes in 2009, is a former Las Vegas metropolitan police department (LVMPD) homicide detective who left the force in acrimony after advocating race war".The revelations about Robert Bobby" Kinch, now of Duck Creek, Utah, come from public records, online materials and the work of a longtime infiltrator of the patriot movement in the Pacific north-west, who provided vital evidence to the Guardian captured inside Kinch's home. Continue reading...
Sure, most of us can fit in a few thousand steps a day, or a couch to 5k. But what about the strength training, the mobility routine, the cooking from scratch, the meditation, the breathwork, the eight hours' sleep ...I'm not anti-resolution. I actually stuck to one last year: not a single microwave rice sachet has passed my lips since 1 January 2024 and yes, I do want a medal, thanks. But I also want to ask anyone implementing something new year new you"-adjacent in the wellness space: do you really have time?The wellness timesuck starts innocently enough, setting a manageable daily step count, maybe, downloading a couch to 5k app or targeting the NHS's recommended 150 minutes of weekly exercise. But once you get started, you'll discover everything else you should be doing, especially if you're a suggestible social media user. Start strength training," your algorithms nudge, raving about bone density and heart health, so soon you're adding deadlifts and split squats to your weekly routine. Then it's mobility - don't you realise it's key to avoiding pain and later-life problems, dummy? Do daily stretches or suffer the creaky consequences.Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
President-elect has threatened to levy tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China, which can burden businessesWith Donald Trump threatening to impose steep tariffs upon his return to office this month, US firms are bracing for impact. But an analysis of Trump's last presidency identified one way to boost their chances of avoiding the levies: donating to the Republican party.While the initial stage of the president-elect's tariff agenda is designed to hit America's largest trading partners - Canada, Mexico and China - it is US firms that pick up the bill, paying duties imposed on the goods they buy from these markets. Such additional costs can prove devastating. Continue reading...
The 14-3 Vikings and 12-5 Commanders will open the playoffs on the road because the NFL insists on giving a home game to even the most middling of division winnersThe injustice of the NFL's playoff seeding system rears its ugly head once againNow that we know how the 2024 NFL playoffs are seeded from top to bottom, it's time once again to complain about the league's ugly secret: Its system for awarding playoff position, and thus which teams will have postseason games at home or on the road, is seriously flawed. Continue reading...
The book will no longer be studied at GCSE in Wales because many find the racial slurs upsetting. That's culture war fodder, but it shouldn't beIn years to come, we might call it the Steinbeck problem. Of Mice and Men is one of the most banned books in the United States and will no longer be studied at GCSE in Wales from September - a reaction to the racism and use of racial slurs within the text.Is this something to mourn, or cause for wild celebration? It is complicated. Indeed, it represents a near perfect literary and moral conundrum for the education system of a multicultural, multiracial society. Especially one plagued with culture wars fought in bad faith.Nels Abbey is an author, broadcaster and the founder of Uppity: the Intellectual Playground Continue reading...
President says Social Security Fairness Act will benefit Americans who have worked hard all their lives'Joe Biden has signed into law a measure that boosts social security payments for current and former public employees - such as teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public-service workers - in what the White House has described as the first expansion of such benefits in 20 years.The bill I'm signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their lives ... should be able to retire with economic security and dignity," Biden said. That's the entire purpose of the social security system crafted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt nearly 90 years ago." Continue reading...
Officials say evidence supports theory suspect, 42, carried out deadly attack alone but reveal leads are being pursuedFederal authorities investigating the avowed Islamic State (IS) sympathizer who carried out the New Year's Day Bourbon Street terror attack in New Orleans said they are still investigating his potential associates elsewhere in the US and abroad.In a news briefing, officials from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said they were pursuing leads in Houston, Atlanta and Tampa, Florida. They also revealed that Shamsud-Din Jabbar visited New Orleans twice in the months before the attack, and, on one of those trips, rode a bicycle up Bourbon Street wearing smart Meta glasses and also rode around the French Quarter neighborhood - ostensibly, officials said, to prepare for the attack that he carried out, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. Continue reading...
Trump loyalists make baseless link between attack and US border and say cabinet nominees must be urgently ratifiedRepublicans in the US Senate are attempting to exploit the New Year's Day attack that killed 14 victims in New Orleans, injuring dozens more, to push through Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet nominations and rocket-charge the incoming president's anti-immigration agenda - despite the fact that the attacker was a US citizen born and raised in east Texas.Several Senate Republicans appeared on Sunday's political shows to call for an urgent approval of the most contentious of Trump's cabinet selections, who are facing a tough confirmation process. They include Kash Patel, chosen by Trump for FBI director; Pete Hegseth for defense secretary; and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. Continue reading...
Team and the NFL will donate to victims of attack on New Year's Day that left 14 people dead and 35 others injuredThe New Orleans Saints and the National Football League in which they compete have pledged to donate $1m to the victims of the Bourbon Street terror attack on New Year's Day that left 14 people dead and 35 others injured.In a press release issued on Saturday, the Saints and their owner, Gayle Benson, who pledged $500,000, said: Our community has experienced an unimaginable tragedy and our collective hearts are broken as we mourn for the victims and survivors of the New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans. Continue reading...
People gathered in New Orleans, Louisiana to pay tribute to those killed in the New Year's Day truck attack. A makeshift memorial had been set up on Bourbon Street, where the attack took place, adorned with crosses and with photographs of the victims. At total of 14 people were killed, and dozens more injured, when a US army veteran drove a pickup truck into a crowd in the early hours of 1 January
State of emergencies issues in several states and cities as eastern two-thirds of country to experience dangerous coldA major winter storm was sweeping across the central US on Sunday, forecasters said, bringing with it a dreaded combination of snow, ice and plunging temperatures.The National Weather Service (NWS) issued winter storm warnings from Kansas and Missouri - where blizzard conditions are expected - to New Jersey. Continue reading...
Experts warn that incoming president could direct DoJ officials to scale back enforcement of Voting Rights ActDonald Trump could use a second term atop the justice department to gut enforcement of US federal voting laws and deploy an agency that is supposed to protect the right to vote to undermine it, experts have warned.Trump has made no secret of his intention to punish his political enemies and subvert the American voting system. His control of the justice department could allow him to amplify misleading claims of voter fraud by non-citizens and others, as well as investigate local election officials. Continue reading...
Americans describe treatment denials, hidden costs and deceptive practices when filing claims with insurersSince the fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, polarised discussions about the US health insurance system have not abated, with thousands of Americans continuing to share their struggles in having their healthcare covered.Hundreds of people from across the US shared their frustrations with the Guardian, too, explaining how their lives had been shaped by their experiences of trying to access healthcare in the US. Continue reading...
Biden set to lead tributes at funeral service but cameras likely to be trained on TrumpAmericans are hoping for a rare moment of political unity this week when all five living presidents - including Donald Trump - are expected to come together to mourn Jimmy Carter, who died last Sunday aged 100.Joe Biden is set to lead the tributes at a funeral service on Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral. He let slip last year that Carter had asked him to give a eulogy (Excuse me, I shouldn't say that," the president admitted). Continue reading...
There's a solid social-democratic narrative this government could use - if only its leaders would actually tryPicture this. Keir Starmer is sitting at a kitchen table, staring into the camera, wearing decidedly casual clothes. The mug sitting next to his left hand confirms that the people around him are trying something a bit folksy and faux-intimate. As ever, his usual air of awkwardness shows that he is a newcomer to these rituals; in the midst of constant negative news stories, he also looks weary. I hope you are having a good start to 2025," he says. I wanted to begin the new year by assuring you that for me and my government, the work goes on."Here we go, you think: the usual cliches. Five years ago this month, our country fell into one of its most significant run of events in living memory. On 31 January 2020, we finally left the European Union. Then, less than two months later, the threat from Covid-19 meant the start of all those lockdowns, and a long period of fear, worry and bereavement." This, it seems, might be a bit better than usual. In time, we all hoped that in recognition of what we had been through, the unfairnesses and inequalities that Covid had so vividly highlighted, would finally be acted on. There was a lot of talk about levelling up' and building back better', from politicians who had no intention of making those promises real - and even worse, reckless economic policies that simply made lives even more difficult. And soon enough, war in Europe and a huge cost of living crisis were adding to our predicament."John Harris is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans, Anna Betts an on (#6TB97)
Those who died on Bourbon Street had gathered to celebrate the new year and were locals, tourists, students and parentsUniversity students. Parents and other people pursuing careers. A former college football player whose little brother made a name for himself in the sport, too. A Briton whose stepmother had been a nanny of Princes Harry and William.All had gathered on the most famous street in one of the world's most festive cities to celebrate New Year's Day. All were murdered when a US army veteran flying a flag of the Islamic State (IS) terror group drove a pickup truck around a makeshift police blockade and into a crowd on New Orleans's Bourbon Street in the early morning of 1 January 2025, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more before authorities shot him to death during a gun battle. Continue reading...
Whether in America or Britain, working-class people only matter when immigration is an issueOn the one side stand Silicon Valley moguls and leaders of corporate America; on the other, longstanding Donald Trump loyalists and supporters of the Maga (Make America great again") movement. One side claims to be building America's bright new future by recruiting the best talent from across the globe, the other to be defending US workers from the depredations of global capitalism. One side portrays itself as challenging racism and bigotry, the other is outraged by bigoted views of American culture.The H-1B visa - which allows US companies to hire foreign workers with highly specialised knowledge" - might seem an unlikely spark for a mini civil war among Trump supporters. Yet the bitter feud that has gripped the Trumpsphere over the past week has exposed many of the fissures of US conservatism. There is little to admire on either side and much to deplore. Both sides are right in certain respects, but usually for desperately wrong reasons. Continue reading...
My progress has been painfully slow, but at last I think I'm winningA few years ago I found myself in the toilet without my phone and experienced a surge of actual panic. How was I supposed to fill those three minutes? Don't answer that. I've been waging war on my phone addiction ever since, with slow progress. That is, until few months ago, when I pressed the nuclear button. I'd heard the most successful people use dumbphones, or have no phone, and it persuaded me to embrace the unthinkable. Guys, I turned the internet off. And I need to tell you about the world I discovered.First, specifics. I didn't want to spend money or end up talking to a football for company. So I just turned off mobile data. I kept wifi enabled, could call and message. But I deleted all apps that former YouTube designer John Zeratsky calls infinity pools": any source of constantly replenishing content. All social media. Email. Google too, the scrollable sum of everything. You can't look stuff up?" my friends gasped. My phone was incredulous. Are you sure?" it asked, for the first time ever. And pressing that button did feel like dying. You should never wake a sleepwalker, right? Continue reading...
Specialist travel companies are using euphemisms to avoid the gender apartheidHaving denied Afghan women jobs, education and free movement, ordered them to be totally covered, banned them from parks, removed their critical healthcare and silenced them with a ban on audible speech, the Taliban have plainly reached the point where the joy of torturing half the population has to be balanced, like any sensible exercise in mass persecution, with the needs and enjoyment of the male and free.What, for example, to do about windows? Doubly enraging to the ruling obsessives, in that they offer female slaves the pleasure of daylight as well as allowing non-residents occasional evidence of their existence, these openings do, on the other hand, benefit the women's male owners and theirsons. Continue reading...
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