The tennis great’s decision is a stark reminder that even in 2022, women’s time is still not our ownRetirement from sport rarely plays out the way it is depicted in movies. We picture an athlete finishing with a win against the odds, having achieved everything they wanted out of the sport and moving happily into the next phase of their life.In reality, very few athletes finish with a win. No matter how hard they wish for it, they walk away having lost a final, or without making a final at all. And all too often retirement is forced – through injury or non-selection – and the athlete is left with a niggling feeling that they left unfinished business behind. Continue reading...
Pulitzer winner’s new biography tells fascinating story of a Native American star recently recognised as a double Olympic championAs Olympic comebacks go, it is hard to top. Last month, Jim Thorpe was reinstated as sole gold medalist in the pentathlon and decathlon in the Stockholm games, more than a century after he won them.Thorpe, a Native American, starred in 1912 only to be stripped of his titles for breaking strict amateurism rules. His family and other campaigners long believed the decision unjust and racist. In 1982, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared Thorpe joint winner of both events but did not restore his Olympic records. Finally, on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon, it recognised him as the outright winner of both events. Continue reading...
Republican’s phone could be relevant to bid to overturn 2020 election and mishandling of official recordsFederal investigators seized the cellphone of the Republican congressman Scott Perry on Tuesday, his office said, suggesting the justice department is examining the communications of a close ally of Donald Trump and person of interest to the House January 6 select committee.The move by the FBI to take Perry’s phone came a day after federal agents executed a search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and seized boxes of documents, though it was not clear whether the two events were connected. Continue reading...
Ahmad Abouammo found to have given users’ personal information to Mohammed bin Salman’s aideA former Twitter employee has been found guilty of spying on Saudi dissidents using the social media platform and passing their personal information to a close aide of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.A jury in a federal court in California found Ahmad Abouammo, a dual US-Lebanese national, had acted as an unregistered agent of the Saudi government. Continue reading...
Albuquerque’s police chief says officers ‘tracked down the vehicle believed to be involved’ in slayings over last nine monthsAlbuquerque police have detained a man as the primary suspect in the killings of four Muslim men in New Mexico’s largest city.The city’s police chief on Tuesday announced the update on Twitter. Chief Harold Medina said officers had found the vehicle that investigators believe was involved in the killings over the last nine months. Continue reading...
Officials designated a 2.7-mile stretch in Brunswick, Georgia, as Honorary Ahmaud Arbery Street, vowing to never forget his deathA crowd of dozens chanted on a sweltering street corner Tuesday as Ahmaud Arbery’s hometown unveiled new street signs honoring the young Black man who was murdered after being chased by three white men and shot in a nearby Georgia neighborhood – a crime local officials vowed to never forget.Arbery’s parents joined the memorialization the day after the men responsible for their son’s death received stiff prison sentences in US district court for committing federal hate crimes. Continue reading...
Homeland security says it ended policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings hours after judge lifted an orderThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it has ended a Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration court, hours after a judge lifted an order, in effect since December, that the so-called Remain in Mexico rule be reinstated.The timing had been in doubt since the US supreme court ruled on 30 June that the Biden administration could end the policy. Continue reading...
Trump is believed to be pursuing a presidential run in 2024, and many calculate the Mar-a-Lago raid would benefit him politicallyShockwaves spread across America in response to the news that the FBI had searched the private Florida residence of Donald Trump, a dramatic and unprecedented move that prompted threats of retaliation from the former US president and his allies.It also brought calls for accountability from his opponents and inspired speculation about what it could mean for Trump’s plans to run for the White House again in 2024, as some suggested it may prompt him to announce a candidacy before vital midterm elections in November. Continue reading...
Prejudice and hostility stalked her through a career of scarcely believable achievement, one that reflected much about the USOnly in America could Serena Williams happen. Only in the US could this particular amalgam of style, determination and edge take form: a black female Jehovah’s Witness from Compton, who persevered in the face of racism, sexism, illness and family tragedy to unapologetically rewrite the history of a sport predominantly owned, played and watched by affluent white people.The origin story nearly three decades on reads like a tall tale, a fever-dream yarn too fantastic to be true: a father idly channel‑surfing from his easy chair until coming across a tennis tournament, awestruck by the $40,000 cheque handed to the winner, eyes widening at the vision of opportunity taking shape in the faint glow of the tube. The words rang through Richard Williams’s head: “I’m going to have two kids and put them into tennis.” Continue reading...
Her record of 23 grand slam singles titles in the Open era stands alone but Williams’s tennis legacy goes far beyond statisticsSeven years ago, as Serena Williams continued to consolidate her career records and her claims as the greatest of all time, a reporter asked her to identify the all-time record in her sights. Williams had 19 grand slam titles back then, just past the marker of 18 set by Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. She sighed deeply, but she was smiling: “Stefanie Graf has it, she has [22],” she said, without hesitation. “It’s there, I can see it, just because you can see it doesn’t mean you can reach it.”Williams will play out the final tournaments of her career in the coming weeks after announcing in Vogue on Tuesday her imminent retirement at 40 and, for the record, she did achieve the ultimate goal she had set for herself then. At the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant with her daughter, Alexis Olympia, Williams surpassed Graf to secure the Open-era record of a 23rd grand slam title. Continue reading...
by Associated Press in Greenwood, Mississippi on (#62AYY)
Mississippi grand jury declines to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham over death of Black teenager nearly 70 years agoA grand jury in Mississippi has declined to indict the white woman whose accusation set off the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till nearly 70 years ago, despite revelations about an unserved arrest warrant and a newly revealed memoir by the woman, a prosecutor said on Tuesday.A grand jury in Leflore county in the north-western part of the state considered evidence and testimony regarding Carolyn Bryant Donham’s involvement in the kidnapping and death of Till, the local district attorney, Dewayne Richardson, said in a news release. Continue reading...
The pair are facing several felony charges after the teen used abortion pills to end the pregnancy at six monthsA Nebraska mother and her daughter are facing felony charges after the mother allegedly helped her teenager abort her pregnancy, burn the fetus and then bury it.Jessica Burgess, 41, is facing five criminal charges, including three felonies, after investigators accused her of helping her 17-year-old daughter obtain abortion pills to end her pregnancy, as well as burning and interring the fetus. Continue reading...
Trump’s influence seemed to be waning – but the sight of federal agents searching Mar-a-Lago has rallied RepublicansThe FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago on Monday has galvanized the American right, raising the prospect that Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican party could strengthen at a time when the former president had been losing it.After Trump announced in a statement that his resort and residence was “currently under siege, raided, and occupied”, angry supporters rushed there to protest as police with rifles looked on. “All the media are against Trump, and I’m fed up with it,” a supporter holding a sign saying “Fake news” told a Reuters reporter. Continue reading...
We watched as she was targeted for her hair, outfits and physique. Even as she heads for retirement, her resilience is an example to us all“If you can see it, you can be it.”It’s a phrase regularly preached by sporting governing bodies, educators and those in the media who champion diversity, like myself. Although it’s a cheesy phrase, it is 100% true. Continue reading...
The seizure of documents on Monday relates to records of Donald Trump’s presidency, but may help to shape the political futureThe FBI’s search of and seizure of documents from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida is not only dramatic and serious, but unprecedented: no other former president has faced such an action. Yet Mr Trump’s ability to survive and thrive politically on similar moments is also without precedent. Even when damaging evidence emerges, he has walked away largely unscathed in the eyes of his base, while the US itself has been diminished. Nor has he yet experienced legal consequences for his actions in office.Monday’s search was reportedly part of the ongoing investigation examining his potentially unlawful removal and destruction of White House documents. Accurately recording the actions of a country’s executive is part of democratic accountability. But this investigation will also help to determine the future: first, and most importantly, because upholding standards maintains the difference between honest and transparent systems and dishonest and unaccountable ones, and second, through its electoral impact. Continue reading...
Unprecedented search of an ex-president’s home for official documents provoked outrage from supporters but proving intent will be key to any charge by the Department of JusticeThe news that sent tremors across America broke at 6.36pm on Monday when the publisher of an obscure Florida politics website tweeted that the FBI had raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, adding with a pinch of self-deprecation: “TBH, I’m not a strong enough reporter to hunt this down, but it’s real.”Eighteen minutes later another Florida resident responded to the news with more bombast. “These are dark times for our nation, as my beautiful home … is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” the former president said in an enraged statement. Continue reading...
My wife uses words she swears are real, and I think are invented. But the made-up words we use at home are often the most delightfulAny linguists or Yiddish experts out there? I would like some help settling a dispute with my wife, please. Early on in our relationship, she introduced me to a brilliant new word: beshwiggled. Ever put on a jacket over a bunch of layers and everything feels crumpled and you’re all hot and bothered? You’re beshwiggled. Ever tossed and turned at night and your bedsheets feel tangled and uncomfortable? Beshwiggled. Evocative with a satisfying mouthfeel: I reckon Lewis Carroll would have had a good chortle at the word. It sounds like something he might have conjured up in Jabberwocky.Carroll didn’t invent it though. According to my Jewish-American wife, beshwiggled is a Yiddish word. Curious about the etymology, I spent a while Googling different spellings of beshwiggled (geshwhiggled, b’swiggled) and consulting online Yiddish dictionaries, but couldn’t find any information. I think your family made it up, I finally informed her. “No,” she insisted. “It’s a real word!” I don’t want to be a schmuck, but I’m not sure it is. Continue reading...
With 23 majors to her name, the tennis great intends to ‘evolve away’ from the game after the US Open. Here are some memorable moments from her glittering career Continue reading...
Whether the DOJ is no longer scared of the Republicans, or the January 6 hearings have changed things, Trump is the subject of a serious criminal inquiryIt’s remarkable that it didn’t leak. A story of this magnitude – the FBI raiding the compound of a former president, executing a search warrant in connection with a criminal investigation – is the kind of story that every well-connected reporter in Washington would usually have heard about. But the major papers seemed surprised on Monday night, scrambling to catch up as the story unfolded. In the end, the person who broke the news was Donald Trump himself, posting on his own somewhat anaemic Maga blogging platform, Truth Social. “After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said. “They even broke into my safe.”If the Justice Department and the FBI were able to keep news of the raid from leaking, it implies that they are treating their investigation into Trump with extreme caution. A raid on such a high-profile and polarizing political figure would have been approved and monitored by officials at the very top; at the very least, the agencies would have had to get a warrant from a federal judge. The raid is a significant escalation of the department’s relationship with Trump. It’s now difficult to think, as many of us long did, that the DOJ is unwilling to make Trump himself the object of a serious criminal inquiry. Continue reading...
The American is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. We take a look back at her remarkable careerHer older sister Venus made her professional debut before Serena, but the younger Williams sibling had long been tipped to become the better player. She was only 16 in 1997 when she recorded her first professional main draw win, at the Ameritech Cup in Chicago. She quickly followed it up with two more victories, including one against Monica Seles, before losing in the semi-finals. Continue reading...
Picture was among cache of messages inadvertently handed over by Infowars host’s lawyer to opposition legal teamLawyers for the notorious American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accidentally gave his legal adversaries a nude photo of his wife that he had texted to the conservative political operative Roger Stone, an attorney involved in the matter has acknowledged.The seemingly farcical – but entirely true – development was the latest bit of fallout since one of the attorneys for a family suing Jones for defamation revealed last week that Jones’s own lawyer had inadvertently handed over numerous text messages belonging to the far-right provocateur and then failed to take steps to keep them out of court. Continue reading...
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, consumer champion Martin Lewis and CBI chief urge PM to act urgently to help people with soaring energy billsMore on the new forecast for UK energy bills from Cornwall Insight, which spells more misery for millions of families across the UK.The consultancy’s principal consultant, Dr Craig Lowrey, said:It is essential that the government use our predictions to spur on a review of the support package being offered to consumers.If the £400 was not enough to make a dent in the impact of our previous forecast, it most certainly is not enough now.The government must make introducing more support over the first two quarters of 2023 a number one priority. In the longer term, a social tariff or other support mechanism to target support at the most vulnerable in society are options that we at Cornwall Insight have proposed previously. Right now, the current price cap is not working for consumers, suppliers, or the economy. Continue reading...
Law enforcement agents searched the 45th president’s mansion – and gave him another reason to run in 2024Devastating news for the future Trump Presidential Library, already suffering acute supply problems after recent reports that the former US president frequently ripped up presidential papers and clogged toilets with them (home and abroad). Last night, the FBI carried out a raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach mansion in which Trump currently resides, sharing only several of its communal areas with paying Floridians. The raid – or “assault”, as Trump would have it – is thought to be related to his already-proven removal of records from the White House at the end of his administration, but could reasonably be linked to a number of active lawsuits and investigations currently being faced by the 45th president.Even so, it’s a development that has hit Trump and his family hard. Or opportunely, depending on how you look at it – and more on that later. “These are dark times for our Nation,” began an overnight statement by the former president, talking like a Star Wars opening crawl. Trump went on to say his property was “under siege”, which feels a little histrionic. Surely this was just a harmless law enforcement rally that mildly got out of hand, though not in a way that saw five people end up dead, a gibbet erected on the croquet lawn and small-state golfers barricading themselves into executive restrooms in genuine and rational fear of their lives?Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistWhat Just Happened?! by Marina Hyde is published by Guardian Faber (£20). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Continue reading...
The FBI Mar-a-Lago search suggests that the former president is no longer living in a protective bubbleFor a party that loves to stand on the thin blue line, Donald Trump is a curiously crooked leader. Here is a party, a grand old one, that is merrily revving up the old scare machine about crime in time for November’s congressional elections. Yet its likely presidential nominee finds the whole notion of laws and law enforcement an entirely alien concept – intended literally for aliens.Never mind that he may have broken multiple laws in taking classified materials to his private residence after leaving office. Never mind that he apparently flushed papers down the presidential toilet in breach of record retention laws, if not the plumbing protocol of half of the country. Continue reading...
Bipartisan group calls for new hearing over lack of evidence in case of Richard Glossip, 59, as state rushes to speed up executionsA letter signed by 61 Oklahoma lawmakers – most of them pro-death penalty Republicans – has been sent to the state’s attorney general calling for a new hearing in the case of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month.Forty-four Republican and 17 Democratic legislators, amounting to more than a third of the state assembly, have written to John O’Connor pleading for the new hearing. Continue reading...
Sources say the Monday morning search was part of an inquiry into missing White House records after Trump’s presidency. Plus, tributes pour in for Olivia Newton-John
The US will return to Cambodia 30 looted antiquities, including bronze and stone statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities carved more than 1,000 years ago, US officials have said.
The four recent murders have raised the concern that a serial killer is targeting members of the Muslim community in AlbuquerqueThe White House needs to devote more resources to finding and catching the person or people behind the killings of four Muslim men in New Mexico which local law enforcement officials have linked together, the head of one of America’s leading Muslim civil rights groups has said.The four victims include Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, and most recently, Nayeem Hossain, 25, who was shot and killed after attending the funerals of the two victims that preceded him last Friday. Continue reading...
Supporters of former US President Donald Trump have gathered outside the Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, after the FBI executed a search warrant at his residence. The move by the FBI is the latest indication of an intensifying criminal investigation by the justice department into his affairs
Travis and Greg McMichael were also sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for the murderThe white father and son convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting after they chased him through a Georgia neighborhood were sentenced on Monday to life in prison for committing a federal hate crime.Travis McMichael, 36, and Greg McMichael, 66, received their sentences from US district court judge Lisa Godbey Wood in the port city of Brunswick. The punishment is largely symbolic – the McMichaels were sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for 25-year-old Arbery’s murder. Continue reading...
The lawsuit alleges that when officers stopped the couple on 12 August last year, they did not recognize that Petito was in dangerThe family of Gabby Petito announced plans to file a $50m wrongful death lawsuit against Utah police on Monday, claiming that officers in the small desert town of Moab, who stopped Petito and boyfriend Brian Laundrie last year, failed to recognize their daughter was in a domestic violence situation.The notice of a forthcoming claim alleges that when officers stopped the couple on 12 August 2021, they did not recognize that Petito, 22, was in danger. Continue reading...
Axios, whose founders launched site in 2016, to be taken over by legacy publisher that owns US regional newspapersFor $525m, Axios – publisher of punchy, notated news briefs – is set to be acquired by Cox Enterprises, a legacy publisher that owns a series of US regional newspapers.The cash deal, announced Monday, is expected to close in the next few weeks and marks a significant moment in the growth of the news outlet, which was founded in 2016 by the same journalists who launched Politico in 2007. Continue reading...
Secretary of state tells reporters in South Africa that US ‘not trying to outdo anyone’ amid growing influence of Russia and ChinaAntony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has appealed to “governments, communities and peoples” across Africa to embrace Washington’s vision of democracy, openness and economic partnership in the first major speech of three-nation tour of sub-Saharan Africa.Blinken was speaking in South Africa on the first stop of his tour, which will include the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Continue reading...
Images published ahead of new book on 45th presidency offer possible evidence of violations of Presidential Records ActClaims that Donald Trump periodically blocked up White House and other drains with wads of paper appear to be borne out in photographs leaked ahead of the publication of a new account of the 45th presidency.On Monday, Axios published photos of folded-up paper, marked with Trump’s telltale handwriting, using his favored pen, a Sharpie, submerged at the bottom of various toilet bowls. Continue reading...
Ex-president complained to John Kelly ‘why can’t you be like the German generals?’ according to excerpt from the New YorkerDuring his time in the Oval Office, Donald Trump wanted the Pentagon’s generals to be like Nazi Germany’s generals in the second world war, according to a book excerpt in the New Yorker.In an exchange with his former White House chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, Trump reportedly complained: “You fucking generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?” Continue reading...
