Bear League describes how family in Lake Tahoe heard ‘odd snoring-like noises’ but dismissed them before eventual discoveryA California family spent the winter dismissing odd noises that sounded a little like snoring, only to discover that five bears had spent the cold season hibernating under their house.The Bear League group, which works to preserve bear habitat and help bears in distress largely around the Lake Tahoe basin region in the state, recounted the family’s astonishing episode last week. Continue reading...
Political newcomers Matthew DePerno and Kristina Karamo win convention to clear path to face Democratic incumbents in the fallTwo candidates who were endorsed by Donald Trump won Michigan Republicans’ backing for attorney general and secretary of state at a convention Saturday, clearing their path to face Democratic incumbents in the fall.The meeting of thousands of delegates was a test of Trump’s clout in the party. Continue reading...
Staunch conservative on most economic and social issues also teamed with Democrats several times during long careerOrrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator in history who was a fixture in Utah politics for more than four decades, died Saturday at 88.His death was announced in a statement from his foundation, which did not specify a cause. Continue reading...
In a time of multiple crises and dangers, the EU needs urgently to recover a sense of common purposeIt’s hardly a secret that pro-Europeans are on edge across the continent, anxiously worrying whether Emmanuel Macron will win today’s French presidential election. His challenger, Marine Le Pen, is openly prepared to subvert the EU to propagate her vision of a reborn autarchic, nationalist France even ready to partner strategically with Russia. The EU’s capacity to drive forward internally and externally, so crucial given the mountainous challenges facing the continent, not least the war in Ukraine, would collapse. So would the cohesion of the west.As matters stand, it looks as though Macron will make it. But British pessimists worry that the EU may not be safe for long. Whether we’re talking about inflation, the cost of living crisis, weaning Europe off Russian energy, holding a common line against Vladimir Putin or protecting EU values against attacks from rightwing populists, the EU faces some of the most formidable challenges since the Second World War – with structures that are scarcely fit for purpose. Continue reading...
Refusal to help US punish Russia and $2bn investment in Kushner fund signal crown prince’s displeasure with Trump’s successorSaudi Arabia appears to be banking on Donald Trump’s return to office by refusing to help the US punish Russia for the Ukraine invasion, and by placing $2bn in a new, untested investment fund run by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.In seeking to persuade Riyadh to increase oil production so as to lower prices by as much as 30%, and thereby curb Russian government revenue, the Biden administration is looking for ways to reassure the Saudi government that it is dedicated to the kingdom’s security. Continue reading...
Democrats struggle to tell a good-news story, raising fears of midterm losses in NovemberThe interruption was unplanned but Joe Biden immediately knew this was no ordinary heckler. “I agree!” he told a babbling baby as the audience laughed. “I agree completely. By the way, kids are allowed to do anything they want when I speak so don’t worry about it.”It was a welcome note of light relief during a speech that could not be described as blockbuster television. Beside a blue sign that said “Building a Better America”, perched on a white boat at the New Hampshire Port Authority in Portsmouth, the US president was last week trying to gin up enthusiasm about infrastructure investment and supply chains. Continue reading...
The major general faces up to seven years in prison after assaulting his sister-in-law at a family barbecue in 2018In the first-ever military trial for a general in the 75-year history of the US air force, a two-star general was found guilty Saturday of abusive sexual contact for forcibly kissing his sister-in-law after a family barbecue.Maj Gen William Cooley faces up to seven years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and the loss of his air force pay and benefits at a sentencing hearing scheduled for Monday. Continue reading...
Belarusian exiles watch events in Ukraine with fear but also hope. Could they too fight back?History is teetering on an edge. No one knows which way it will go. Maybe the Russian empire, the last and most terrible of the European empires, will fall. Or maybe it will absorb the hit and survive as it has survived and expanded since the 17th century. You’d be a fool to bet against it. The graveyards of Eurasia are full of those who did.And yet the breathtaking heroism of the Ukrainian resistance and the insane self-delusion of the Putinist regime are allowing Russia’s opponents from Syria to Central Asia, and from Georgia to Moldova, to ask that most revolutionary of questions: “What if?” Continue reading...
Police arrived at the venue to find wedding guests being treated for ‘symptoms consistent with that of someone who has used illegal drugs’A Florida bride and her wedding caterer have been criminally charged after serving food laced with marijuana to their wedding guests, sickening them and sending several to hospital.Danya Shea Svoboda, 42, and Jocelyn Montrinice Bryant, 31, who catered her wedding, face charges of violating Florida’s anti-tampering laws, delivery of marijuana and culpable negligence. Continue reading...
by Hugo Lowell and Ramon Antonio Vargas on (#5YFRE)
A former staffer testified that White House counsel said the scheme involving fake electoral college votes was not legally soundDonald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows was warned the effort to overturn the 2020 election with fake electoral college votes was not legally sound – and yet proceeded anyway, the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack said Friday.In a court filing, the panel also said that Meadows went ahead with plans to have Trump speak at the Ellipse rally that descended into the Capitol attack, only days after being expressly told by the US Secret Service that there was potential for violence on 6 January 2021. Continue reading...
US billionaires now own a combined $4.7tn, according to a new analysis – but to Elon Musk, since he doesn’t have a yacht or own a home, that’s totally OK“We’re all in this together.” Remember that corny catchphrase from the early days of the pandemic? Remember when there was a smidgen of hope that the collective trauma the world was facing would reshape people’s priorities and the pandemic could be a portal to a better, fairer society?Arwa Mahdawi’s new book, Strong Female Lead, is available for order Continue reading...
Misinformation about the center being a site for illegal immigration circulated after it opposed Trump’s border wallThere’s a legend in south Texas involving the Monarch butterfly, the magnificent insect with the tiger markings. The Monarch typically arrives in the Rio Grande valley on its annual migratory trek in early November. That’s when people on both sides of the border celebrate Day of the Dead, a sacrosanct holiday in which residents honor dead relatives by visiting their gravesites and building elaborate altars in their memory.Legend has it that the butterflies carry the souls of the dead relatives as they make their way to the warmer climes of Mexico.Carlos Sanchez is director of public affairs for Hidalgo county, Texas. He was a journalist for 37 years and has worked at the Washington Post and Texas Monthly magazine, as well as eight other newsrooms. He can be reached at borderscribe@gmail.com Continue reading...
by Erin McCormick in San Francisco with photographs b on (#5YFH4)
Street teams focused on harm reduction offer Narcan, meals and other support to those experiencing homelessness and addictionIt’s 9am in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district and sleeping bodies line the sidewalks as Felanie Castro sets out on her route in Glide Foundation’s harm reduction van.Along Ellis Street, hungry people queue up for the Glide’s daily breakfast of buns, hard-boiled eggs and plastic-wrapped muffins. Down the block, a fire department truck, part of a city response team, awaits the day’s first drug overdose call. Continue reading...
by Gloria Oladipo in Maplewood, New Jersey on (#5YFH3)
Voters first approved of legalizing cannabis in the state in 2020 and on 21 April, it became one of the first on the US east coast to start recreational salesFor customers at the Apothecarium dispensary, one of 13 medicinal marijuana stores in New Jersey, 4/20, the unofficial celebration of all things marijuana, came a day late.On Thursday, 21 April, recreational use of cannabis was legalized throughout New Jersey, allowing anyone 21 or older to legally purchase marijuana. Continue reading...
Soccer paradise? Or another great stadium heist? Inter Miami’s Freedom Park deal has come under scrutiny ahead of a key voteThe 20th anniversary of the film Bend It Like Beckham has been widely celebrated this month, but an unauthorized sequel of sorts is making waves in Miami.The mini-documentary, crassly tag-lined ‘Don’t Bend Over For Beckham’, isn’t exactly canon. It’s less the seminal tale of female footballers that inspired a generation, and more a castigation of what critics call a “billion-dollar real estate heist” by the owners of Beckham’s Inter Miami soccer franchise – all under the guise of another stadium project involving public land and the taxpayer’s purse. Continue reading...
Wednesday’s TV debate was a chance for the president to attack his far-right opponent’s policies. Instead, he normalised themPresident Emmanuel Macron faced Marine Le Pen, his far-right challenger, in a televised debate on Wednesday ahead of Sunday’s crucial runoff vote. The media agreed that Macron had largely dominated the exchanges. Viewers interviewed by pollsters agreed that Macron had been more convincing, more dynamic and more sincere.Yet following the debate, Libération declared on its front page that Le Pen was “still not up to par”. This was an astonishing headline on the part of a centre-left newspaper. Does it mean that had Le Pen had better oratory skills and a better grasp of policy details, she would be worthy of becoming president? Meanwhile, most of the commentary about the debate failed to point out that Le Pen is a far-right candidate who has extreme views on immigration, Islam, civil liberties, the EU and Putin’s Russia. This shows that the normalisation of Le Pen’s far right movement is at an advanced stage.Philippe Marlière is professor of French and European politics at University College London Continue reading...
Governor Ron DeSantis’s redistricting gambit means ‘for all intents and purposes, there’s currently … one-man rule’, says one former GOP strategistAs Florida Republicans gave final approval to new congressional districts on Thursday, Black lawmakers staged a sit-in on the floor of the legislature, praying, chanting and singing that Black voters were under attack in the state.The extraordinary moment served as a remarkable endpoint to a brazen attack by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. Continue reading...
A report reveals a 30% increase in firearm-related deaths between 2019 and 2020, including incidents of suicides and accidental shootingsGun violence overtook car accidents as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the US in 2020, according to a report from the University of Michigan.The finding was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday as part of longer term research effort from the university’s Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention (IFIP). Continue reading...
The man was identified from video he had posted on social media that appeared to show gunshots firedA gunman opened fire on random victims from a sniper’s nest on the upper floor of an apartment building near an elite prep school in Washington, wounding four people before taking his own life as police burst into his dwelling.Police said on Friday evening the suspect, Raymond Spencer, 23, of suburban Fairfax, Virginia, was initially identified from video he had posted on social media that appeared to show gunshots fired from the vantage point of an upper-floor window, with the misspelled label: “Shool shooting!” Continue reading...
Officials dismiss reports that body of soldier, who was part of a security operation overseen by governor, has been foundA Texas national guard soldier who was part of a border security operation overseen by the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, went missing on Friday amid fears the soldier might have drowned in the Rio Grande.The Texas military department said the disappearance occurred in the river in Eagle Pass during a mission associated with Abbott’s so-called Operation Lone Star. Continue reading...
Warning that ‘This is not the time to be pulling back on mitigation measures’ as CDC appeals judge’s overturning of face-covering ruleWhen the US federal government’s mandate requiring masks on transportation was lifted this week, reports of celebration ensued.Videos were shared of people removing their masks and cheering, music was blasted over plane speakers, pilots shared the news from the cockpit and flight attendants jumped with joy. Continue reading...
Florida strips company of self-governing power for opposing Governor Ron DeSantis’s ‘don’t say gay’ lawFor Joe Biden, the vote by Florida Republicans on Thursday to strip Disney of its self-governing powers was a step too far.“Christ, they’re going after Mickey Mouse,” the president exclaimed at a fundraiser in Oregon, in apparent disbelief that state governor Ron DeSantis’s culture wars had reached the gates of the Magic Kingdom. Continue reading...
by Lauren Aratani and Richard Luscombe on (#5YEJP)
House Republican leader says ex-president ‘told me he does have some responsibility’ in clips released by New York TimesNew audio clips reveal that the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, held Donald Trump responsible in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot, and that Trump himself accepted “some responsibility” for the insurrection.The explosive clips were released by the New York Times on Thursday and Friday after an earlier report said McCarthy and the Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, initially believed Trump to be responsible for the attack, and both privately expressed anger against him. Continue reading...
Moses, convicted last year, was granted new trial in February after Guardian revealed files that had not been given to her defenseA Memphis prosecutor has dropped all criminal charges against Pamela Moses, the Memphis woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote.Moses was convicted last year and sentenced in January. She was granted a new trial in February after the Guardian published a document showing that had not been given to her defense ahead of the trial. Continue reading...
Donald Trump’s former chief of staff was removed from voter rolls in North Carolina earlier this monthMark Meadows, the former chief of staff to Donald Trump who was removed from North Carolina voter rolls earlier this month, is still a registered voter in two other states, according to officials.Chris Whitmire, a spokesperson for the South Carolina elections commission, said the former Republican congressman and his wife registered as voters in the state in March. Continue reading...
Education officials release four examples among the 54 math textbooks they rejected last week because of ‘prohibited topics’Education officials in Florida have been criticized for putting “political theater” over teaching after they revealed four examples from among the 54 math textbooks they rejected last week.The state said it had refused to use the books because of “prohibited topics” including alleged references to critical race theory. On Friday, however, after pressure to explain the decisions, the education department published several images of math problems from the textbook with the offending segments highlighted. Continue reading...
Winds and dryness heighten danger from Tunnel fire as teams battle blazes in American south-westFirefighters working to keep more homes from burning on the edge of a mountain town in northern Arizona were treated to scattered showers and cooler temperatures early on Friday, but the favorable weather was not expected to last as more ferocious winds were forecast to batter parts of Arizona and all of New Mexico through the weekend.The combination of high winds, warmer temperatures and extremely dry conditions will make for an atmosphere that’s “pretty much on steroids”, said Scott Overpeck, with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Continue reading...
Even his ministers say it’s a matter of when, not if, he goes. But the damage Partygate is doing makes his removal urgentWe can’t know for certain how long Boris Johnson will survive as prime minister or whether his departure is indeed, as one of his ministers whispers, “a matter of when, not if”. But there are two things we do know, because they are true right now. We saw vivid evidence of both this week. The first is that his authority is shot. The second is that his continued presence in office is already corroding and corrupting our democratic system, and that this is not a hypothetical threat awaiting us in the future. It is already here.The proof of his vanished authority came 13 minutes before MPs were due to debate a Labour motion to investigate Johnson on the gravely serious charge of deliberately misleading parliament. Johnson and his team had hoped to order Tory MPs to block it, or at least to delay it. But too many Conservatives refused to do as they were told. They didn’t fancy going into the next election with their faces on opposition leaflets, alongside a reminder that they had voted to cover up Johnson’s lies about partying during lockdown. Downing Street was late getting that message. So late that, with just minutes to go, it had to back down and let Labour have its way.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Co-founder of project to raise money for US-Mexico wall pleads guilty in case that once included Trump’s adviser Steve BannonThe co-founder of the “We Build The Wall” project aimed at raising money for a border wall pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in a case that once included Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon.Brian Kolfage admitted to pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars while promising all donations would pay for the wall. His plea came a month before a trial in a case that began in dramatic fashion in August 2020, when Bannon was pulled from a luxury yacht off the coast of Connecticut and arrested on allegations that he and three others ripped off donors trying to fund a southern border wall. Continue reading...
Prince Harry’s comments about visiting his grandmother have provoked uncontrollable fury among Elizabeth II superfansLike all truly patriotic Britons, I hugely enjoy how mad Prince Harry makes some people. Mad in both the British and American senses of the word. More than two years after he stepped back from royal duties to become yet another boring Californian, seemingly every utterance of Harry’s induces proper steam-out-of-the-ears stuff in a whole demographic of British people who insist they never want to hear another word from him – yet absolutely refuse to simply stop reading about him.Is HRH doing it on purpose, like some clever, extremely high-status troll? That’s a nice idea, but feels unlikely. The Windsors have never exactly been fabled for their intellects. It’s possible the situation is actually extremely uncomplicated: Prince Harry just wibbles out some stuff every now and then, at which point millions of grownups are completely unable to handle it.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Ukrainian leader tells residents in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia not to give personal information to Russian forces. Plus, 350,000 fewer American kindergarteners vaccinated against common diseases
The meeting comes in the wake of other family members such as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner testifying to the committeeDonald Trump Jr. has agreed to meet in the near future with the US House of Representatives panel that is investigating the 6 January 2021, attack on the US Capitol, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing a source.Trump, the eldest son of former president Donald Trump, is set to meet with the House committee of his own will and without the threat of a subpoena, the outlet said without reporting when the testimony was scheduled. Continue reading...
Governor Ron DeSantis is set to sign bill revoking 1967 law allowing Disney to self-govern a roughly 25,000-acre Orlando areaFlorida legislators passed a bill on Thursday that would revoke Walt Disney Co’s special tax status in a move widely seen as tit-for-tat for the company’s opposition to a new “don’t say gay” state law limiting discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools.The bill now heads to the desk of Governor Ron DeSantis, who is all but guaranteed to sign it. Continue reading...
On Monday, Pamela Moses is set to make her first court appearance since having her six-year prison sentence for trying to register to vote overturnedHello, and happy Thursday,On Monday morning, I’ll be in Memphis, where Pamela Moses is set to make her first court appearance since having her six-year prison sentence for trying to register to vote overturned. Moses, a 44-year-old Black Lives Matter activist, will probably find out whether prosecutors intend to pursue a new trial against her.Moses lost her voting rights in 2015, when she was convicted of a felony and sentenced to seven years of probation. But no one told her she was ineligible to vote and election officials never removed her from the rolls. She continued to vote regularly.In 2019, Moses attempted to go through the process for people with felonies to register to vote. Election officials became aware of her ineligibility because she was running for mayor.Even though a probation officer signed a form saying she was eligible, and Moses says she didn’t know she couldn’t vote, a jury convicted her of knowingly consenting to false information on an election document in November 2021She was sentenced to six years in prison in January this year.In February, the Guardian published a document showing that the Tennessee department of corrections had investigated the matter and blamed the probation officer. That document had not been provided to Moses before her trial and the judge overseeing her case granted her request for a new one.The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is moving ahead with a brazen effort to blunt Black political power in his state.The Ohio supreme court has again blocked Republicans from enacting state legislative districts that are severely distorted to benefit the party.The Wisconsin supreme court adopted new legislative maps drawn by Republicans, a decision that will make it virtually impossible for Democrats to take control of the state assembly for the next decade. Continue reading...
Plan drawn by Ron DeSantis gives Republicans a significant boost and is one of the most aggressively gerrymandered maps in USFlorida Republicans approved a new congressional map that severely curtails Black voting power in the state on Thursday, taking a final vote as Black lawmakers staged a sit-in on the floor of the legislature.The new plan, which was drawn by Governor Ron DeSantis, gives Republicans a significant boost in the state and is one of the most aggressively gerrymandered maps passed in recent months. Republicans would be expected to win 20 of the state’s 28 congressional districts, a four seat increase from the 16 they hold now. It also eliminates two of four districts where Black voters have been able to elect the candidate of their choice. Continue reading...
New book reveals post-insurrection anger from Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, who said of Trump: ‘I’ve had it with this guy’In the days after the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, the two top Republican leaders in Congress, privately told associates that they believed Donald Trump should be held responsible for the attack.A new report from the New York Times, the reporting for which comes from a forthcoming book by reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns called This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, details private conversations that McCarthy and McConnell had with colleagues revealing the extent of their anger toward Trump. Continue reading...
From Herschel Walker to Tim Scott, denying racism and extolling self-reliance is the Republican party lineAside from racial gerrymandering, suppressing votes, underfunding schools, upholding a biased criminal justice system, denying a woman’s right to choose, preventing access to healthcare, undermining democracy, opposing reparations and thwarting every effort for equal rights, perhaps the most preposterous part of conservative mythology is the insidiously racist idea of “bootstraps”.According to this wholly absurd construct, hard work – and hard work, alone – is a magical key that unlocks the promises of the American dream. And, if one accepts this premise, then the converse must also be true. Anyone who doesn’t achieve their dreams is simply not working hard enough. Continue reading...
Among the late supreme court justice’s items up for sale are a mink coat, ceramics by Picasso and a Warhol soup can paintingAn auction of artwork, including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, and other personal items owned by the late supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars next week.Much of her collection of paintings and ceramics forms a 115-lot modern art auction hosted by the Potomack company of Alexandria, Virginia, in an online catalog. An additional collection entitled “chambers and home” features 145 more lots of miscellaneous curios, including pewter bowls, crystal vases and numerous other personal items. Continue reading...
Even tiny territorial gains will allow Russia to declare success, regroup, and wait to reopen hostilities at a time of its choosingAs Russia builds up its offensive operations in the east of Ukraine, many in the west have suggested that Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces to deliver success in Mariupol in time for Russia’s Victory Day, on 9 May. That’s an assessment based largely on circumstantial evidence and the cult status of Victory Day itself – but it’s not one that’s supported by what Russia is telling its own population, where domestic propaganda channels are no longer making promises of a swift end to the conflict.Nevertheless, Putin is free to declare victory by whatever artificial deadline he chooses. Russia has already reinvented what its war was supposed to achieve, and can do so again if necessary. Moscow can say it has achieved its aims regardless of the facts on the ground and call an end to its “special operation” at will. This would present Ukraine with another harsh dilemma – the need to fight on while Russia appears to be offering peace, risking the erosion of support from western backers who would prefer an end to the fighting even if, in the long term, it could mean the end of Ukraine.Keir Giles works with the Russia and Eurasia programme of Chatham House. He is the author of Moscow Rules: What Drives Russia to Confront the West Continue reading...
Former US president claims video has been misleadingly edited to create buzz around TV presenter’s new showDonald Trump has said he did not storm out of an interview with Piers Morgan, instead claiming the British television presenter misleadingly edited a video of their meeting to create a buzz around his new show.A short clip released on Wednesday to promote talkTV, the new Rupert Murdoch-owned TV station, gave the impression that the former US president walked out of an interview with Morgan in anger at the tough line of questioning. Continue reading...
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