Stewart Rhodes and 10 others face 20-year prison sentences as the first charged with seditious conspiracy in January 6 insurrection

Move comes after longstanding complaints from party that non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates favors Democrats

‘Absurdle is an experiment to find the most difficult possible variant of Wordle,’ says its creatorWordle has taken over your timeline through pure force of pleasantness. Every day, an empty six-tiered grid appears in the world’s browser. We try to guess a secret five-letter word; with each entry the player learns if the letters they used appear in the solution, appear in the solution and are in the right place, or aren’t in the solution at all. So, you might navigate from ASKEW to ABLED, before eventually arriving at ABBEY.There’s only one new Wordle puzzle a day, and designer Josh Wardle has not included any of the garish barnacles that tend to accrue to breezy mobile pastimes. That philosophy has made it a runaway success with hundreds of thousands of players. In a media environment awash with misinformation and division, it’s just kinda nice to spend a few minutes every day trying to guess a word. Continue reading...

Judge Robert Adrian said the 148 days Drew Clinton had spent in jail for raping a 16-year-old girl was ‘plenty of punishment’A judge in western Illinois who found an 18-year-old man guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl has come under fire after he later threw out the conviction, saying the 148 days the man spent in jail was punishment enough.Judge Robert Adrian of Adam county, Illinois, said Drew Clinton, who was convicted last October for raping a 16-year-old girl at a graduation party last May, had received “plenty of punishment”. Continue reading...

Front of Nathan Fletcher and Lorena Gonzalez’s house in San Diego was ‘engulfed in flames’ in early hours of WednesdayCalifornia police are treating a fire at the home of two Democratic politicians in San Diego as suspicious.Sgt Rick Pechin of San Diego police told the San Diego Union-Tribune that investigators believe the fire at the home of supervisor Nathan Fletcher and former state assemblywoman and prominent labor leader Lorena Gonzalez was suspicious in nature. Continue reading...

Secretary of state says officials do not know what illness is or who is responsible, with more sickness reported in Paris and GenevaThe United States still does not know what the illness known as Havana syndrome is or who is responsible for it, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday after more American diplomats were reported ill in Paris and Geneva.Blinken said the entire federal government was working to get to the bottom of the illness, which has afflicted about 200 US diplomats, officials and family members overseas. Continue reading...

Many states prevent those once convicted of a felony from voting but one stands out for the scale and complexity of its lawHello, and Happy Thursday,For the last few years, I’ve wanted to write about the way Mississippi disenfranchises certain felony convictions. Every state in the country has slightly different felon disenfranchisement laws, but the one in Mississippi is especially harsh.Joe Biden on Tuesday gave the speech voting rights activists have been wanting to hear for months, calling for changing the Senate filibuster to pass voting rights legislation. But it still doesn’t seem like Democrats have the votes to change the filibuster. Days ahead of a vote, the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, called it an “uphill battle”.Candidates for secretary of state are raising unprecedented amounts of money so far, according to a new Brennan Center report, a reflection of the battle for control of election administration that is shaping up across the country,A three-judge panel in North Carolina upheld the state’s new congressional districts, which were drawn to heavily favor Republicans. Plaintiffs have already said they will appeal the decision to the North Carolina supreme court.Many fewer used mail-in drop boxes in some of Georgia’s most populous counties last year after Republicans restricted their availability, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Continue reading...

After Jalani Lovett, 27, died in solitary confinement, his mother wants the sheriff’s department to be held accountable: ‘They have no regard for human life’The family of Jalani Lovett, a 27-year-old who died in a Los Angeles jail last year, is demanding that the county sheriff’s department be held accountable and authorities release more information about the final moments of his life.Lovett died in solitary confinement in Men’s Central jail in downtown LA on 22 September. The county coroner released an autopsy report on Tuesday saying Lovett’s death was “accidental” and that he had fentanyl and heroin in his system. Continue reading...

Lindsey Graham tells Senate majority leader he won’t vote for someone ‘that can’t have a working relationship with Trump’Mitch McConnell has been attacked by a key Trump ally and told to repair his relationship with the former US president or face failure as Senate Republican leader.The move by Lindsey Graham comes amid a rumbling dispute between McConnell and Donald Trump, whose grip on the party remains near-total despite his impeachment for inciting the deadly Capitol attack in service of his lie that his defeat by Joe Biden was caused by electoral fraud. Continue reading...

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy accused the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack of ‘abuse of power’ as he denied the panel’s request for an interview

Because the global south is bearing the brunt of climate breakdown, it’s people of colour who are suffering mostIt’s 4am, and sparks from the circular saw are flying by my head. I have been given goggles to protect my eyes from the debris and although I’ve been told that I’m in safe hands, I do not feel safe at all. I’m cold from sitting on the road for five hours; my back is stiff, my hands are numb and, to top it all off, humanity is on the edge of extinction. This probably seems an odd way to spend my time to some of you, but this is how climate activists who engage in direct action try to be heard. We have tried everything else. We are exhausted and terrified. So we keep doing it.Last year I was included in an article about climate activists. In the original article, I was the only person pictured without my placard. My placard said: “Climate inaction = racism.” I want to talk about what this means.Elise Yarde is a climate justice activist from London

The more permissive attitudes and lack of public health advice are coming home to roost for a generation of older BritonsWhen I joined a community mental health team for older people 20 years ago, addiction wasn’t a central part of our work. One of our first referrals was for an alcoholic patient threatened with eviction. It was rejected – it wasn’t relevant to our service, or so I thought. But over the years the referrals combining social problems and addiction kept coming. We would bat the problems back to the GP, yet the same patients would be referred years later for depression and dementia. Their issues hadn’t gone away; if anything, they had worsened.It was a salutary lesson that led me to join forces with a group of professionals and delve more deeply into the problem of drug and alcohol addiction in older people. As we dug into the data, a pattern began to emerge of substance misuse among those born between 1946 and 1964: the so-called “baby boomers”. Their higher rates of addiction than in older or younger generations are coming home to roost, with implications for public health and clinical services.Tony Rao is a consultant old-age psychiatrist and author of the book Soul Trader

Since Lord Sugar and his wannabes were last on our screens, the world has endured two years of a pandemic. You’d never know it from the new series – and I for one am gratefulSometimes, change is the last thing you want. Yes, in the newfangled world of reality TV, you can now find innovative formats where dates are disposed of via a trapdoor or contestants woo each other without speaking the same language. But 2020 and 2021 were packed with enough plot twists to last a lifetime. This is why the return of TV staple The Apprentice is so welcome.After two years off air, almost everything in the world has changed, bar the show itself. As always, Alan Sugar takes on a crop of business hopefuls who are confident to the point of delusion (which is how one of them actually described themselves in the first episode). Even the first few minutes of its return were characteristically thick with quotables: “I am the EST of everything, which means I am the coolEST, smartEST and wickedEST in businEST”, assured one contestant. Continue reading...

We can’t just sit back and watch what’s happening to the planet. We are not an audience. Like it or not, we are in this storyAs a scientist and a movie maker, we both once naively assumed that data and storytelling would converge to help prevent the imminent collapse of our habitable climate. Fire tornadoes, mega hurricanes, biblical floods, fossil fuel companies misleading the public and gambling our lives for huge profits – of course, such apocalyptic imagery would lead to gripping newscasts, dramatic interpretations, and stirring speeches from our leaders, sparking action at every level of society.After all, the real-life story of the climate crisis makes even the wildest, biggest-budget film like Don’t Look Up seem like a charming EM Forster adaptation. But does this story-of-all-stories get wall-to-wall news coverage? Nope. Not by a long shot. Continue reading...

By focusing on personal responsibility over open doors, the mayor is ignoring the neglect that led to this tragedyOn Sunday, the deadliest New York City fire in three decades tore through a Bronx apartment building, killing at least 17 people. Among the dead were children as young as four and five.The New York City fire department blamed a space heater and a malfunctioning door for allowing smoke to spread through building. The door was “not functioning as it should”, said Dan Nigro, the FDNY commissioner. Residents told reporters on the scene that their doors often didn’t shut like they were supposed to.Ross Barkan is a New York City-based writer Continue reading...

Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle seek to delay executions until trial is held on whether lethal injection method is constitutionalTwo men on Oklahoma’s death row – at the prodding of a federal judge – agreed to choose execution by firing squad as a way to delay their upcoming lethal injections, one of their attorneys told the judge.The two inmates, Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle, want US district judge Stephen Friot to grant them a temporary injunction that would halt their upcoming executions until a trial can be held over whether Oklahoma’s three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional. Continue reading...

Blood centers across US have less than a day’s supply of some types, organization says, as Covid fuels decline in blood drivesThe American Red Cross has declared a “national blood crisis” as the US faces its worst blood shortage in over a decade, predominantly due to a drop in blood drives as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.“In recent weeks, blood centers across the country have reported less than a one-day’s supply of blood of certain critical blood types – a dangerously low level. If the nation’s blood supply does not stabilize soon, life-saving blood may not be available for some patients when it is needed,” the Red Cross said in a joint statement with America’s Blood Centers and the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies. Continue reading...

Senate Republican leader calls US president’s speech a ‘rant’, underscoring the difficulty Democrats face getting legislation through CongressTop Republican senator Mitch McConnell has attacked Joe Biden’s push for a voting rights bill, underscoring the difficulty the Democrats face attempting to steer legislation through Congress with a narrow majority.The US president has called for his party to jettison the Senate’s longstanding “filibuster” rule, which requires 60 of the 100 senators to agree to advance most legislation, a move that McConnell said would irreparably damage the chamber. Continue reading...

Jim Harbaugh’s much-anticipated return to the NFL is about more than one coach, one college and one NFL team. It’s about a shift in the landscape of coaching at the highest levelIt was easy to scoff at the initial reports that University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was considering a return to the NFL.In the normal cause of business, it looked like a well-timed (if obvious) leak on the heels of a successful season, a college coach looking to maximize his value and extract maximum dollars and influence out his school. Continue reading...

James Whitfield, PhD, shared a heartfelt letter to students following George Floyd’s death. Then, he was disciplined and placed on leaveIt was at 4.30am on 3 June 2020 that Dr James Whitfield sent the email that would detonate his career. Like many Americans, Whitfield had stayed up late that night, seething over the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Barely a month into the promotion to principal of Colleyville Heritage High, he wrestled with how to reassure his 1,974 students as scores of protestors took to the streets in cities all over the world. He had seen the virtue signals from Fortune 500 companies, the black squares on social media, but they seemed lacking. As Colleyville’s first Black principal, he felt like he should say more. Emboldened by friends, he decided to make a teachable moment out of this summer of unrest.“I wanted to give people a message of hope and encouragement,” he says, still sounding stunned over the phone. Continue reading...

Let’s see the Beijing Games for what they are: a stage for a rising global hegemony with serious human-rights problems and a democracy on a ventilatorLess than a month before the Beijing Winter Olympics begin, the Games are a massive political thicket. China is earning global condemnation for its human-rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang Province, what Human Rights Watch calls “crimes against humanity”. The Chinese cities of Xi’an and Yuzhou are in lockdown after experiencing the largest Covid-19 outbreak that the country has seen since the early days of the pandemic. The National Hockey League yanked its players from the Games in light of coronavirus concerns. Olympic qualifying events are in disarray, wracked by positive Covid cases. A diplomatic boycott by the US, Australia, Britain and Canada has only added to the mayhem.When the Biden administration announced its diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games, a spokesperson from China’s foreign ministry responded that the Olympics were “not a stage for political posturing and manipulation”, adding that the boycott was “a grave travesty of the spirit of the Olympic charter” and “a blatant political provocation”. Continue reading...

‘Coalition of America First secretary of state candidates’ disclosed by Jim Marchant, who is running for secretary of state in NevadaExtreme Republicans loyal to Donald Trump and his “big lie” that the 2020 election was rigged have formed a nationwide alliance aiming to take control of the presidential election process in key battleground states that could determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential race.At least eight Republicans who are currently running to serve as chief election officials in crucial swing states have come together to form the coalition. Continue reading...

A strategy involving a ‘shell’ bill would allow Democrats to evade an initial filibuster from Republicans seeking to block the debateLacking the votes to change the filibuster rules that have stalled their sweeping voting rights legislation, Senate Democrats are pushing ahead with a new strategy that would utilize an unusual loophole maneuver to open debate on the bills.Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer outlined the plan in a memo obtained by the Associated Press and others on Wednesday, on the eve of Joe Biden’s visit to meet privately with Senate Democrats about the path forward. Continue reading...

We’re commissioning reported stories and comment pieces on the daily impact of gun violence across CaliforniaThe Guardian US’s Guns and Lies series covers the daily impact of gun violence across California communities and the people within these communities working to prevent it.America’s gun violence crisis is driven not by high-profile mass shootings but by everyday gun deaths in Black and brown communities. During the pandemic, these communities have witnessed a historic surge in daily shootings, one that the country has barely acknowledged and most Americans have hardly begun to understand.Highlight the daily realities of gun violence in California communities.Spotlight bright people and innovative programs working to curb violence.Reveal gaps in resources and policies aimed at curbing gun violence or serving survivors.Correct misconceptions about the gun violence crisis.Illuminate the dynamics behind the recent rise in gun violence in California and across the country. Continue reading...

President expected to discuss changes to Senate rules to overcome Republican filibusters on long-stalled drive for legislationJoe Biden is set to meet with Senate Democrats at the Capitol on Thursday, a visit intended to deliver a jolt to the party’s long-stalled push for voting and elections legislation.Biden is expected to discuss potential changes to Senate rules that will be needed to overcome repeated Republican filibusters that have blocked the measures, according to a senior Democratic aide who was familiar with the private meeting and requested anonymity to discuss the visit. Continue reading...

Confronting Russia over Ukraine will not faze the former social worker who played a key role in North Korea and Iran talksIn Wendy Sherman, the Biden administration has sent its most experienced negotiator into the fray, in an attempt to fend off a Russian invasion of Ukraine and a new conflict in Europe.No one in government has spent more time in high-stakes talks with hostile states than the 72-year-old deputy secretary of state, who has represented the US at two rounds of critical discussions with Russia this week. Continue reading...

Tenants file $3bn class action lawsuit against building’s owners alleging they ‘had actual notice of defective conditions’All 17 victims who died in the New York apartment fire tragedy on Sunday have been identified, with the devastating toll including eight children.The New York City medical examiner’s office reported that all the victims died of smoke inhalation and their deaths had been ruled accidental. Continue reading...

Whatever the outcome, there is no way back for the prince – and the family will be keen to limit the damageWell, he’s surely sweating now. One by one, the options are running out for Prince Andrew. He has just lost his latest legal battle after Manhattan federal court judge Lewis Kaplan’s ruling today that the sexual abuse lawsuit against him should proceed to trial, despite his lawyers advancing a variety of technical arguments, including that Virginia Giuffre no longer lives in the US, that she agreed in a 2009 deal not to pursue claims against certain other people, and that the court summons had not been properly served. He now faces a long trial that is likely to cause considerable reputational damage to the royal family in a year when everyone was supposed to be celebrating the Queen’s platinum jubilee.One possibility left to him is settling with Giuffre out of court. After all, this is what happens in the vast majority of civil litigations in the US, particularly after the attrition of a drawn-out court case begins to bite. But such an option could hit the cash-strapped prince hard in the pocket, given reports that he is trying to sell his £17m Swiss chalet to raise funds just to pay for his legal bills; this is after reports from the palace that the Queen would not bail him out financially. Since Giuffre had already received $500,000 in a legal settlement with Epstein, any settlement could run into the millions of dollars (some reports have put it as high as $5m). If that happened, despite palace denials, the Queen would probably have to intercede with help, just as she did when Charles was faced with a multimillion-pound divorce bill from Diana in 1995.David McClure is the author of The Queen’s True Worth Continue reading...

Constant recalibration of risk in the face of a mutating virus is causing decision fatigue, leading to binge eating and even impulse shoppingDuring the first wave of the pandemic, hospital workers had a great deal to say about the horrendous choices they were being forced to make on oversubscribed, underequipped wards. Why should one person deserve a ventilator more than another? How would you make that call, at speed? There was the life-or-death nature of the decisions. The pressure was unbearable.Almost two years later, with Covid-19 still putting a strain on health services across the world, the rest of us are perhaps experiencing a more diffuse form of “decision fatigue”. While the choices themselves may not be as obviously acute, they are nonetheless concerned with mortality. Would you trust a rapid lateral flow test in a situation that really mattered? Is it OK to go to the gym? Which is safer, taxi or public transport?Anouchka Grose is a psychoanalyst and the author of No More Silly Love Songs

Biden has vowed to keep businesses and schools open but some experts wonder if that’s possible given nature of Covid variantSchools going virtual, airlines canceling flights, pharmacies and testing centers closing temporarily, shelves emptying in grocery stores because of transportation delays, blood donations dropping to crisis levels for the first time ever and the country’s hospitals are becoming stretched. This is the US in the grip of the Omicron variant.Omicron may cause milder symptoms in some people, but its effects are ricocheting throughout America and creating some of the greatest challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Evidence will be exchanged, a settlement is possible, other victims may testify – and Prince Andrew may be called to testify as wellA Manhattan federal court judge ruled on Wednesday that a lawsuit brought by the longtime Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre can move forward.Giuffre has long said the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his then girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, herself recently convicted of sex trafficking, forced her into sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17.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...

Bartender recognizes man in video setting fire to Christmas tree and damaging buoy as customer who stiffed him on New Year’s EveAlways remember to tip your server, if you know what’s good for you.A tourist made a big impression in a Key West bar by ordering drinks three times on New Year’s Eve without leaving a tip. Continue reading...

US president throws support behind plan to change rules that allow minority of senators to kill proposed laws. Plus inside Trump’s new Manhattan bar

The New England Patriots missed Tom Brady more than he missed them in 2020. That’s surely not lost on lion-in-winter coach Bill Belichick, even if he’d never say soWe found out last February that Tom Brady can win a shiny Vince Lombardi Trophy without any help from Bill Belichick. Now comes Part II: Can Belichick win one without Brady?The bookies don’t think so, at least not this year. Oddsmakers have set the New England Patriots’ price on winning the Super Bowl at 18-1, joint-eighth with Cincinnati among the 14 playoff teams. (Green Bay are favorites at 7-2. The Steelers are the longest shots at 80-1.) Continue reading...

The final road to Super Bowl LVI kicks off on Saturday. Our writers predict the paper tigers, dark horses and key playersThe Los Angeles Chargers. Extra chances to see Justin Herbert doing Justin Herbert things should be treasured. Brandon Staley’s side was flawed – their run defense would likely have doomed them in any playoff matchup – but Herbert’s excellence would have balanced the scales, giving the Chargers a shot at causing an upset. OC Continue reading...

45 Wine and Whiskey, the ex-president’s latest venture in his eponymous New York tower, is quite an experience – if you can find anyone to let you inIf you are a man who has failed in an attempt to launch a vodka brand, done the same with a line of steaks, and bankrupted several casinos and hotels, leaning further into the hospitality business might not seem the savviest move.But that’s exactly what Donald Trump, never one to listen to his haters, or to his advisers, has done, in opening a new bar in his eponymous midtown Manhattan tower. Continue reading...

Body positivity is all the rage and soft drinks are being repackaged as ‘zero sugar’. But is ‘clean eating’ just dieting in disguise?

Critics and supporters alike rally to urge president to amend Senate filibuster and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights ActAs Joe Biden and Kamala Harris readied to speak at the Atlanta University Center Consortium in Georgia on Tuesday, nearly a dozen protesters gathered outside the building, holding up signs that read “end the filibuster” and bore messages of support for federal voting rights protections.Biden and Harris were in Atlanta to bring urgent attention to the party’s efforts to pass new voting rights laws, but some activists who attended the event (and several who opted not to attend) have criticized the president, claiming he was using the moment as a “photo op” instead of putting forth a solid plan of action. Continue reading...

US president throws support behind plan to change rules that allow minority of senators to kill proposed lawsJoe Biden on Tuesday gave his most forceful endorsement to date of changing the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass sweeping voting rights legislation, saying he was “tired of being quiet” in a high-profile speech in Georgia.In one of the most significant speeches of his presidency so far, Biden drew a connection in history between the civil rights movement, the 6 January attack on the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump, and the unprecedented efforts in many states to restrict the vote over the last year. Continue reading...

Vaccine mandate feud intensifies as staff infections increased 212% in January with only 69% of prison workers fully vaccinatedCalifornia prisons have reported a staggering rise in Covid cases among staff this month, as the highly contagious Omicron variant has sent infection cases surging across the US.Staff infections increased 212% in January with more than 3,800 active cases in dozens of state facilities. The surge comes amid debate over a federal judge’s order that all prison staff must be vaccinated, a mandate facing legal challenges from the governor and the corrections officer union. Continue reading...

Subpoenas suggest committee examining whether Trump’s rally speech suggests White House had prior knowledge of attack plansThe House select committee investigating the Capitol attack closed in on Donald Trump’s inner circle on Tuesday, issuing subpoenas to three new White House officials involved in planning the former president’s appearance at the rally that preceded the 6 January insurrection.The new subpoenas show the select committee is moving ever nearer to Trump in its investigation and suggests the panel is now examining whether the former president’s speech suggested that the White House had advance knowledge of plans to attack the Capitol. Continue reading...

The bills to create and fund universal healthcare face opposition from powerful lobbies for doctors and insurance companiesCalifornia is considering creating the first government-funded, universal healthcare system in the US for state residents. The proposal, which lawmakers will begin debating on Tuesday, would adopt a single-payer healthcare system that would replace the need for private insurance plans.Lawmakers are debating two bills – one would create the universal healthcare system, another would outline plans to fund it by increasing taxes, especially for wealthy individuals and businesses. The sweeping healthcare reform faces significant hurdles, including opposition from powerful lobbies for doctors and insurance companies. If the bills are approved by the legislature, voters would ultimately have to approve the taxes to fund the new system in an amendment to the California constitution. Continue reading...

The daily infection rate hit a new record of 1.35m while 145,982 people were in hospital with coronavirus on Monday