US news | The Guardian

US could be turning the corner on the pandemic, but not if you are one of the many people who has lost loved ones or is suffering post-coronavirus symptoms known as long CovidPamela Swan Addison keeps hearing the same phrases over and over. People are tired. They are tired of wearing masks, tired of getting vaccinations, tired of their lives being disrupted. Addison is tired too. But she’s tired of different things. She’s tired of listening to people complain about masks and vaccinations and disrupted lives when she knows her life will never be the same again.She’s tired of the inevitable question people ask her whenever they discover her husband Martin died of Covid early in the pandemic aged 44: did he have an underlying health condition? He didn’t, as it happens, but why do they have to be so insensitive? Continue reading...

A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from International Women’s Day in Istanbul to ‘kill the bill’ protests in Cambridge Continue reading...

The pep-talk project has been overwhelmed with calls from people in need of a lift in difficult timesLast month, a group of California elementary school students launched a free hotline featuring on-demand inspiration and advice for anxious souls. With joy in short supply these days, the tiny school’s project has since gone viral, receiving thousands of calls hourly.Dial 707-998-8410 and you’ll hear a cheerful voice listing your options: “If you’re feeling mad, frustrated or nervous, press one. If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press two. If you need a pep talk from kindergarteners, press three. If you need to hear kids laughing with delight, press four.”“If you’re nervous, go get your wallet and spend it on ice cream and shoes.”“If you’re frustrated, you can always go to your bedroom, punch a pillow or cry on it and just go scream outside.”“If you’re mad or frustrated, you can do what you want to do best or you can do flips on the trampoline.”“If you’re sad or angry, go get a cookie, a smoothie or an ice cream.”“You are OK.”“Don’t give up – power through.”“The world is a better place with you in it.”“Choose weird.”“If you’re feeling up high and unbalanced, think of groundhogs.” Continue reading...

Body discovered after patrol officers investigated report of missing homeowner in upscale neighborhoodTwo men have been arrested in southern California on murder charges after the body of a homeowner in Hawaii was found encased in concrete in a bathtub, according to authorities.On Wednesday, US marshals and Los Angeles police arrested Juan Tejedor Baron, 23, in Anaheim, California, after they found him hiding in a crawl space under a bench on a Greyhound bus which was headed for Mexico. Continue reading...

The halt follows an ACLU lawsuit that accused Greg Abbott of trampling ‘on the constitutional rights of transgender children’A Texas judge has temporarily blocked the state from investigating parents who provide their transgender children with gender-affirming medical treatments, following a hearing in which one state inspector said they were told to pursue parents even when they did not think abuse had occurred.The temporary halt, issued by a district court judge on Friday, follows a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, who the organization accused of trampling “on the constitutional rights of transgender children, their parents, and professionals who provide vital care to transgender children”. Continue reading...

The US has accused Russia of using a UN security council meeting for ‘spreading disinformation’ as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine. The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, was presenting the Kremlin’s allegations that Ukraine and the US had a plot to spread biological weapons with migratory birds, bats and insects – a claim made without any evidence

The oft-photographed country music institution, which has been in Nashville since 1947, will close in the springThe downtown Nashville, Tennessee, record store that was opened by Opry legend Ernest Tubb in 1947 and has been a landmark in country music for decades will close as the building is being put up for sale.The owners of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop said in a statement on Friday they were heartbroken that the store, which has been in its current location on Broadway since 1951, will close in the spring. The building and store is owned by the Honky Tonk Circus, LLC, and the David McCormick Company, Inc. Continue reading...

Jordan Mollenhour is backed by Tennessee’s Republican governor despite his company having supplied ammo to mass shootersThe owner of a US company that has sold ammunition online to numerous mass shooters has prompted outcry as he pursues a permanent position on Tennessee’s education board.Jordan Mollenhour, who was backed by the state’s Republican governor, was confirmed by the state’s Republican-led senate on Thursday morning by 26-6. He is the owner of Lucky Gunners, an online Knoxville-based ammunition company that he co-founded in 2009. Continue reading...

A court found the Met was wrong to threaten us with arrest. The force may appeal, but it should really redouble efforts to tackle misogyny and violenceAs one of the founders of Reclaim These Streets, I rarely get to talk about good news. As a group of campaigners concerned with women’s safety, in the past year we have organised too many vigils for women who were killed by men and should still be with us. We have supported grieving communities such as those in Kidbrooke, where Sabina Nessa lived, and Plymouth, where an incel gunman shot seven people. And we’ve watched as violence against women and girls slips down a political agenda that thinks a centuries-old problem such as misogyny can be fixed with a few streetlights.But this week, finally, we have a win. We beat the Metropolitan police in the high court. Our victory spells out, in no uncertain terms, that the police were wrong to block our attempt to organise a vigil in March 2021 for Sarah Everard on Clapham Common. At every stage, the ruling shows, the police’s interpretation of the law and their decisions were legally wrong.Anna Birley is a founder of Reclaim These Streets and a local Labour & Co-operative councillor in Lambeth Continue reading...

New York judge accuses ex-president of ‘bad faith’ in tactics that would have further delayed defamation lawsuitDonald Trump cannot countersue the US writer E Jean Carroll, who says he raped her in the mid-1990s, a federal judge ruled on Friday. The former president had argued that her defamation lawsuit against him violated a New York state law intended to protect free speech.US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said a ruling for the one-term Republican would needlessly cause further delays for Carroll’s lawsuit, which began in November 2019. Continue reading...

Marie Yovanovitch, who was fired by Trump in 2019, reveals details of then president’s Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian counterpartAt an Oval Office meeting with the then Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, in 2017, Donald Trump asked his national security adviser if US troops were in Donbas, territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists, which Vladimir Putin last month used as pretext for a full and bloody invasion.Describing the meeting in a new book, the then US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, writes: “An affirmative answer to that question would have meant that the United States was in a shooting war with Russia.” Continue reading...

I’m battling cancer as well as voting restrictions, but I have many more bridges to cross. This is my diary of the Selma to Montgomery marchAs a longtime activist and co-founder of Black Voters Matter, and because I lived in Selma, Alabama, for about 10 years, I’ve participated in many Bloody Sunday and Selma to Montgomery commemorations. But this time, it feels a little different.This is the first time after the renewed battle for federal voting rights legislation, which we have fought for throughout 2021 starting with our fight against Georgia’s voter suppression bill early in the year, and continuing with similar efforts in Florida as well as Texas, where activists and legislators successfully delayed a voter suppression bill for six months. Continue reading...

Legislators introduce bill that would ban discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in private schoolsGeorgia lawmakers are trying to pass a bill that would ban discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in private schools, introducing the measure the same day the Florida senate passed its so-called “don’t say gay” bill.Under Georgia’s new bill, the Common Humanity in Private Education Act, no private school classroom would be able to “promote, compel, or encourage classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not appropriate for the age and developmental stage of the student,” reported NBC. Continue reading...

The newest home for the thinking fan’s pundit’s longform, nuanced takes on sports and culture is Game Theory, a new late-night show on HBO which debuts on SundayWas getting into bed with the gambling industry just part of a plan by NFL owners to recoup millions in talent wages? Asking for Calvin Ridley, who’s having an especially rough week.On Monday the league sidelined the star Atlanta Falcons receiver for the 2022 season after an internal investigation revealed Ridley had bet on games during a five-day stretch late last November. In the wake of the news Ridley admitted to betting $1,500. He was slated to make $11m this fall. Continue reading...

We deplore Russia’s aggression. However, it strains credulity to think that a US war with Russia would make the American people safer or more prosperousWe, the undersigned, urge the Biden administration to continue to reject calls to impose a dangerous no-fly zone over all or part of Ukraine. A no-fly zone would commit the US and Nato forces to shoot down any Russian aircraft that enter. It would be naive to think that merely declaring a no-fly zone would convince the Russian military to comply voluntarily. In short, a no-fly zone would mean going to war with Russia.We deplore Russia’s aggression, admire the bravery of Ukrainians, mourn the loss of innocent life, and wish for a speedy end to the conflict. However, it strains credulity to think that a US war with Russia would make the American people safer or more prosperous. To the contrary, going to war with Russia, a nuclear peer of the United States, would expose Americans to vast and unnecessary risks. A war that expands beyond Ukraine’s borders could also inflict damage across Europe and weaken America’s Nato allies. We call upon the administration to avoid such a gambit and continue to use appropriate diplomatic means and economic pressure to end the conflict. Continue reading...

I’ve seen the menu for the Oscars afterparty and it does not look promising. Will someone please get these poor actors some carbs?This is a perilous time for the Oscars. Last year’s ceremony – held in a train station, don’t forget – was watched by just a tiny dribble of viewers. This year, the lack of a televised Golden Globes has hobbled awards season, and anticipation is at an all-time low. The Academy’s plan to lure viewers by handing out a bunch of awards off-screen has been widely criticised by the film-making community. Simply put, things are getting desperate.But we’ve all thrown parties without knowing whether anyone will actually turn up, and the Oscars are currently doing the most sensible thing possible: they’re focusing on the catering. Continue reading...

The US south has long been the epicenter of racism. But the cancer has taken root in every corner of AmericaIn 1974, the great southern journalist John Egerton wrote a prescient book entitled The Americanization of Dixie: The Southernization of America.In a series of connected but self-contained essays, he made the point that something fundamental was changing – both in his native south, and in the country as a whole. But even Egerton seemed not to be sure exactly how things would unfold.The South and the nation are not exchanging strengths as much as they are exchanging sins; more often than not, they are sharing and spreading the worst in each other, while the best languishes and withers.I’ve been the product of an emerging South. I see the clear advantages of throwing off the millstone of racial prejudice. I think it’s a process that’s compatible with the moral and ethical standards of our nation – the heritage of our country, as envisioned by our forefathers. I also see that we have a special responsibility here. When we are meek, or quiescent, or silent on the subject of civil rights at home or human rights abroad, there is no other voice on Earth that can replace the lost voice, the absent voice, of the United States. This is what the persecutors want, and this is what the persecuted fear. Continue reading...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reverberates in Brighton Beach, home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of immigrants from the former Soviet UnionFor years, the sign for Taste of Russia, a grocery store in Brooklyn’s Russian-speaking immigrant community of Brighton Beach, featured the distinctive domes of St Basil’s cathedral in Red Square. But soon after Russian troops invaded Ukraine on 24 February, the owners of the shop took the sign down. In the window, they hung a large blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.“We felt that it was divisive,” said co-owner Elena Rakhman, citing feedback from longtime customers who told her they no longer felt comfortable shopping in a store named after Russia. Several of her employees are from Ukraine and have family members there. Continue reading...

Workers are calling for the National Labor Relations Board to ban captive audience meetings and make organizing easierAmerican workers attempting to form unions in their workplaces are pushing the National Labor Relations Board to expand organizing rights – from reinstating the Joy Silk doctrine that makes unionization easier, to banning captive audience meetings held by employers to discourage organizing efforts.Their efforts could transform how unions organize workers in the US, especially amid opposition from employers. Continue reading...

Zelenskiy calls Russia a ‘terrorist state’ as bombs hit cities further west. Plus, the chefs cooking in solidarity with UkraineGood morning.Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has accused Russia of being a “terrorist state”after its tanks prevented a delivery of food, water and medicine to the besieged city of Mariupol, and he said Moscow was capable of chemical weapons attacks.What else is happening? Here’s everything we know on day 16 of the Russian invasion.What happens if Russia cannot pay its debts after western sanctions? While Russia would have had enough foreign currency to cover debt payments, having amassed $630bn in reserves, the US, UK and EU freezing the assets of its central bank have made much of this sum inaccessible. This means it could default.Meanwhile, Russia’s past has raised fears of a large-scale cyberwar targeting Ukraine and its allies, including the US.What has the House panel said? The filing by the House panel stated that it had “a good-faith basis for concluding that the president and members of his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States”. Continue reading...

Making his first appearance in Philly since demanding a trade last summer, Ben Simmons watched as the Nets dismantled the Sixers with shocking ease in a potential playoff previewIt was the type of night that only the NBA in all its soap-operatic, meme-friendly, hyper-petty splendor can deliver. Ben Simmons’ first appearance in Philadelphia since demanding a trade from the 76ers over the summer was always going to be extra in all the messiest ways, but Thursday night’s wildly entertaining homecoming somehow managed to exceed the weeks of mounting hype that preceded it.And not because the game itself was in any way competitive, for it certainly was not. The sellout crowd of 21,408 rollicking fans who came to release more than nine months of pent-up frustration wound up booing their own team in the fourth quarter as the visiting Brooklyn Nets led by as many as 32 points in a wire-to-wire 129-100 beatdown of the hometown Sixers. Continue reading...

Some ex-prosecutors call on DoJ to accelerate investigation after House panel’s allegations Trump broke laws to overturn electionThe likelihood of a criminal investigation and charges against Donald Trump are rising due to allegations by a House panel of a “criminal conspiracy” involving his aggressive drive to overturn the 2020 election results, coupled with a justice department (DoJ) inquiry of a “false electors” scheme Trump loyalists devised to block Joe Biden’s election.Former federal prosecutors say evidence is mounting of criminal conduct by Trump that may yield charges against the ex- president for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress on 6 January or defrauding the US government, stemming from his weeks-long drive with top allies to thwart Biden’s election by pushing false claims of fraud. Continue reading...

The Latvian is on the verge of returning to the Top 10 after a fine run of form, but her love for front-foot tennis remains intactEven in an era of professional tennis filled with athletes who can obliterate any ball off their groundstrokes from any part of the court, Jelena Ostapenko is unique. Her strength doesn’t simply lie in her power but the natural timing that allows her to change the direction of any speeding ball, the precision of her early, flat shots and, most importantly, her unrelenting belief that she must be in control of every point of every match. When in full flow and absurdly aiming for every line, she will find them.The clearest example of Ostapenko’s talents came in the biggest, most tense moment of her career, when aged 20 she marched into the 2017 French Open final before trailing Simona Halep 0-3 and facing three separate break points in the third set. With her back to the wall, Ostapenko swung and swung until she changed her own destiny, reeling off the final six games to win her first grand slam title. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Longtime activist who still faces the possibility of a retrial tells the Guardian she believes she’s being ‘persecuted’ for being outspokenPamela Moses, the Memphis woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote, says she is grateful to be released – but believes the case against her was a “scare tactic” to discourage other people from casting a ballot.Moses was released from prison on bond on 25 February after a judge unexpectedly granted her request for a new trial, citing evidence, obtained by the Guardian, that had not been disclosed to Moses’ defense. Continue reading...

Empire actor was found guilty in December in the attack that he orchestrated and must also serve 30 months of probationActor Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 30 months of probation, including 150 days of jail time, and ordered to pay restitution for his conviction of lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack that he orchestrated himself.Smollett, who is Black and gay, reported to police that two men wearing ski masks beat him, and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him on a dark Chicago street and ran off. The 39 year old was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and fined $25,000 by Judge James Linn of Cook county circuit court. Continue reading...

Construction workers discover body during renovation of the more than century old Henry J Kaiser Convention CenterThe mysterious discovery of a mummified body in the walls of a historic convention center in Oakland, California, has prompted an urgent search for answers, as authorities seek to untangle the person’s identity and how they came to be entombed within the building’s walls.Construction workers discovered the body on Wednesday afternoon during renovations of Henry J Kaiser Convention Center, a more-than-century old building near the city’s downtown. Little is known about the person, who authorities said appears to be a man, or how he was preserved within the wall of the convention center, which has long been vacant. Officials estimate he had been there for between three and five years based on the state of decay. Continue reading...

Roughly two dozen gave statements at bankruptcy court hearing attended by Richard, Theresa and David SacklerA virtual hearing on Thursday in US bankruptcy court gave survivors of opioid dependency and people who lost loved ones to the crisis what they have long desired – an official chance to confront members of the family behind Purdue Pharma, the US creator of the powerful but highly addictive prescription painkiller OxyContin.They blamed the billionaire Sackler family members for helping spur the epidemic that ultimately has cost about half a million American lives, through aggressive marketing of Purdue’s signature narcotic and for failing to take responsibility for their role. Continue reading...

Census also undercounted Black and Native Americans, while overcounting non-Hispanic white people and Asian AmericansThe 2020 US census undercounted America’s Latino population at more than three times the rate of the 2010 census, according to a report released on Thursday by the US Census Bureau.The census also undercounted the nation’s Black and Native American residents, while overcounting non-Hispanic white people and Asian Americans. Continue reading...

The NFL has punished a player severely for betting on games. But the league is complicit in an activity that at best warps minds and at worst ruins livesOn Monday, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for a full season for wagering on NFL games. The league’s investigation, which found that Ridley made the bets while he was away from the team to concentrate on his mental health in November, said there was no reason to suggest Ridley had used inside information or influenced the outcome of any games. The NFL also said it was satisfied no other members of the Falcons were involved. What Ridley did is wrong. Yes, the penalty feels harsh: he will lose a year of his athletic prime and $11m in salary over what he said was $1,500 in bets. And the proportionality raises eyebrows given the lesser punishments meted out for cheating scandals, lying about Covid vaccination status, literal child abuse and unspeakable acts of gender-based violence. But you can’t bet on your own sport, much less on your own team, and the NFL clearly needed to set a precedent.Still, there’s something that feels off about making Ridley a splashy example at a time when the NFL is raking in millions of dollars in revenue from gambling, something it regarded as a corrosive element and fought tooth and nail against not that long ago. It is a dramatic pivot to go from a century’s worth of moral policing to, effectively, becoming a sportsbook with a bit of football on the side. Continue reading...

Bill aims to make gender-affirming care a felony and punishable by life in prison for anyone who helps a child travel out of stateIdaho’s house of representatives has passed a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming medical procedures for transgender youth and make it a felony punishable by life imprisonment for anyone who helps a child travel across state lines to gender-affirming healthcare.The bill, approved on Tuesday, targets medical measures that include vasectomy, hysterectomy, mastectomy, puberty-blocking medication and supraphysiological doses of testosterone or estrogen. Continue reading...

State legislature approves $3m for team of 25 to investigate voting crimes experts say are vanishingly rareFlorida has approved a measure that would create a statewide office to investigate election crimes – the first of its kind in the United States.Voter fraud is extremely rare both nationwide and in Florida. Nonetheless, the new office of election crime and security will have 25 positions to investigate election fraud and be funded with more than $3m, Daniel Perez, a Republican state representative who backed the bill, said on the floor of the Florida house this week. Continue reading...

Democrats won two major victories, but a dissenting opinion from three of the supreme court’s justices set off alarms bellsHello, and Happy Thursday,It’s no secret that the US supreme court has been hostile to voting rights recently. But two recent decisions, I think, highlight why what the court is doing is both alarming and inconsistent.A Colorado election clerk was indicted on charges she helped allow unaurthorized access to voting equipment.Florida Republicans are on the verge of creating a new office to investigate election crimes.The top election official in Texas’s largest county announced she would resign after the county experienced significant voting problems in the state’s primary.Newly released records in Wisconsin provide insight into a widely criticized review of the 2020 election. Continue reading...

Video tech was my salvation during lockdown. The important thing is to take the first step. After that, it’s like driving a carThe last thing I’d ever want to do is lecture my “elders and betters” (as my grandmother called the older generation) about their behaviour. We oldies already know how to stay happy and healthy. We’ve had our jabs, we take our exercise, we’ve given up smoking and we eat our greens. So we don’t need any young whippersnapper – or worse, elderly TV presenter – to tell us what to do. But I have learned an important lesson in the two years since Covid hit, and I thought maybe others could benefit from it too. It’s about the internet.My generation is very wary of the internet – a view I understand and, to an extent, share. Every day there are new warnings about the dangers of cyberspace: the scams and the swindlers targeting older people. Callers to the Silver Line helpline, which I founded a decade ago as a resource for older people, often say that trying to navigate this jungle with a mouse, a keyboard and a mystifying screen is a challenge that has defeated them. In a 2019 Office for National Statistics survey, less than half of over-75s said that they had recently used the internet.Esther Rantzen is a journalist and broadcaster who founded the child protection charity ChildLine and the free, confidential Silver Line helpline for older people (0800 4 70 80 90) Continue reading...

As a 22-year-old I controlled a warhead that could vaporize a metropolis. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the public is waking up again to the existential dangers of nuclear weaponsFrom 2012 to 2017, I worked as a US air force nuclear missile operator. I was 22 when I started. Each time I descended into the missile silo, I had to be ready to launch, at a moment’s notice, a nuclear weapon that could wipe a city the size of New York off the face of the earth.On the massive blast door of the launch control center, someone had painted a mural of a Domino’s pizza logo with the macabre caption, “World-wide delivery in 30 minutes or less or your next one is free.”Cole Smith is a writer and director who received an MFA in screenwriting at Columbia University after serving in the air force as a nuclear missile operator Continue reading...

House passes huge aid package as Volodymyr Zelenskiy accuses Russia of carrying out ‘genocide’ against Ukrainians. Plus, how pipeline groups are posing as Indigenous champions• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.The US has moved to drastically step up its support for Ukraine, with House lawmakers passing a $13bn aid bill as Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned a Russian attack on a children’s hospital as proof that a “genocide” is being carried out.Fighting stopped a humanitarian convoy from from reaching Mariupol, along one of seven corridors to besieged cities set up by Ukraine. Russian troops are reported to have seized parts of Mariupol.How will the $13.6bn be spent? It will be split between military and humanitarian aid: $6.5bn to send troops and weapons to eastern Europe; $6.8bn for refugees and economic aid for allies.When will the bill pass? Senate approval is expected within days.Who else knew? The email exchange raises the prospect that others in the Willard, including Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani and former strategist Steve Bannon, were also aware of the scheme’s unlawfulness.How significant are the emails? The exchange weakens arguments by Eastman and the rest of the team that they believed there was no wrongdoing in Pence delaying the certification beyond 6 January. Continue reading...

The map of global participation in the sanctions against Russia suggests a new non-aligned movement might be on the riseOn 2 March, as the number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s brutal invasion reached 1 million, the United Nations security council called an emergency session of the general assembly. There, 193 nations reviewed a resolution on Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine” and voted overwhelmingly to approve it: 141 votes in favor, 35 abstentions and just five votes against. Even some of Russia’s closest allies on the continent – Serbia, for example, or Hungary – voted to condemn the invasion. “The message of the general assembly is loud and clear,” said the UN secretary-general, António Guterres.What exactly is that message? In recent days, many commentators have pointed to a global map of the UN resolution to demonstrate the unity of the west and the world in taking on the Putin government. But to make sense of the geopolitical consequences of the Russian invasion, we must look beyond the diplomatic theater of the general assembly to examine how these nations are actually engaged with the war in this phase of rapid escalation. And to do that, we should start with a very different map of the world – a map of global participation in the sanctions set against Russia by the United States and its allies.David Adler is a political economist and general coordinator of the Progressive International Continue reading...

Remaking borders by force violates international law. So why does the US recognise Israel and Morocco’s respective illegal annexations of the Golan Heights and Western Sahara?Last December, as Russian forces encircled Ukraine, the Biden administration and its allies delivered a stark warning to Vladimir Putin: “Any use of force to change borders is strictly prohibited under international law.” In January, as Russian troops massed even in even greater numbers, Secretary of State Antony Blinken added that “the inviolability of frontiers” was among the “guiding principles for international behavior.” Last month, after Russia’s parliament recognized the independence of two self-declared republics Moscow had cleaved from eastern Ukraine, Blinken called this infringement upon “Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” a “gross violation of international law.”All this is indisputably true. Remaking borders by force violates a core principle of international law. Which is why the Biden administration must do more than resist Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. It must stop violating that principle itself.Peter Beinart is professor of journalism and political science at The Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is also editor-at-large of Jewish Currents and writes The Beinart Notebook, a weekly newsletter. Continue reading...

Drivers already hit by low wages and poor working conditions are spending more time driving to keep their wages the sameBy Tuesday afternoon, Lyft driver Elida Zabaleta had earned $100 in the five hours she spent ferrying passengers across the city of San Jose. With gas prices in California surging, she’d have to use more than half of that to cover fuel for the day, leaving her with just $45.The rising cost of gas has made a difficult job all the more difficult, Zabaleta said, forcing her to spend more time behind the wheel to earn enough to afford living in one of the country’s most expensive cities. Continue reading...

The USWNT’s battle for parity was hailed across America. But some believe elite players of both genders are taking money away from the grassrootsIn much of the soccer world, the US women’s team and players such as Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are beloved superstars and powerful voices for equal rights.Many in the rank-and-file of US Soccer don’t share that sentiment though. In their eyes, the US national teams – particularly the women – are bleeding the federation dry while leaving precious little for grassroots associations charged with overcoming the sport’s stagnation and decline among young players. Continue reading...

With just the foxes and bats for company, running in the early morning allows me to assert my place in the cityThere is no better time to go for a run than 5am. Especially in March.Two or three mornings a week at the moment, I edge out of bed, creep down the stairs and stand fully naked in the kitchen. The curtains are closed and there’s nobody awake to see me anyway. Then I change into my running things – out of earshot of my partner and sleeping son – and, turning the front door as quietly as I can, slip out.Nell Frizzell is the author of The Panic Years Continue reading...