David Walls-Kaufman and Taylor F Taranto appeared to target Jeffrey Smith because his eyes and face were vulnerable, suit saysA group of cybersleuths have tracked down two men who allegedly attacked police officer Jeffrey Smith at the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection, leaving him with injuries that have been linked to his death days later.In a new complaint, attorney David P Weber – who represents Smith’s widow, Erin – wrote that David Walls-Kaufman and and Taylor F Taranto appeared to specifically target Smith because his eyes and face were vulnerable. Continue reading...
It’s more than a little nauseating to watch a billionaire whose wealth rocketed during a pandemic being venerated for living modestly Continue reading...
The US public has not been given the full truth about Afghanistan for the past 15 years. Now, the bankruptcy of US policies is plain to seeThe Taliban has been seizing territory in Afghanistan at an alarming rate, having captured all or parts of 10 provincial capitals from the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) in the past week. Far from representing a reason for Joe Biden to halt the withdrawal, however, this rapid deterioration in Afghan security has exposed the bankruptcy of US policies for at least the past 15 years – and the stark unwillingness to tell the truth by a generation of senior US leaders.Related: Seven days that shook Afghanistan: how city after city fell to the Taliban Continue reading...
The tech giant’s new system for scanning iPhones in the US could enable the massive expansion of state surveillanceLast week, Apple announced two backdoors in the US into the encryption that protects its devices. One will monitor iMessages: if any photos sent by or to under-13s seem to contain nudity, the user may be challenged and their parents may be informed. The second will see Apple scan all the images on a phone’s camera roll and if they’re similar to known sex-abuse images flag them as suspect. If enough suspect images are backed up to an iCloud account, they’ll be decrypted and inspected. If Apple thinks they’re illegal, the user will be reported to the relevant authorities.Action on the circulation of child sexual abuse imagery is long overdue. Effective mechanisms to prevent the sharing of images and the robust prosecution of perpetrators should both receive the political priority they deserve. But Apple’s proposed measures fail to tackle the problem – and provide the architecture for massive expansion of state surveillance. Continue reading...
This is about more than just Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez getting back together. It’s a way to kid yourself that the past 20 years haven’t happenedIt’s OK everyone, you can all stop crying into your toast, anxiously waiting to see if I’m back. Because I am! That’s right, after a month away, I’ve returned, and what a month it’s been. “Say, Hadley, how did you spend your incredible four weeks off work? Did you go sailing through the Balearics? Hire a villa in Tuscany? Go rock diving in Portofino?” asks no one. And the answer, no one, is no, I did not. I spent the entire month sitting right here, at my desk, writing a book about mental illness. Do I know how to carpe the hell outta my diem or what?Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, surprisingly, have different ideas about how best to spend the summer. By now you know, your mum knows, even Trappist monks know that Affleck and Lopez – better known as Bennifer, the original celebrity portmanteau – are back together. Over the past month, they have been offering the world glimpses into their passionate reunion on what is now routinely described as their “$130m super vessel.” (Factchecking has confirmed this is a yacht and not Lopez’s nickname for Affleck. Boom boom tish! Missed me much?) Not since Diana, Princess of Wales, lounged on the al-Fayed yacht has a mega-celebrity put on such a show for the world’s press while on deck. Highlights included Affleck stroking Lopez’s backside while sunbathing, which all scholars of early 2000s pop culture will instantly recognise as a reference to Affleck doing the same to Lopez in the Urtext of backside stroking, the music video for Lopez’s seminal single, Jenny From The Block. We’ve seen photos of them making out on the boat ; making out in a restaurant ; making out on Instagram . For a couple who allegedly broke off their engagement in 2004 due to “excessive media attention”, they have proven to be remarkably happy to court said attention again. Well, live and learn, or, in the case of Affleck and Lopez, live. Continue reading...
Streets go quiet and shops close early as temperatures pass 100F in latest Pacific north-west heatwave“No, no, no,” Linda Longoria cried as she heard the weather forecast for Portland, Oregon on Friday: 100F (38C). “I can’t do it. Even in the shade it’s so humid.”Longoria, 65, and her son are homeless and stay in hotels when they can but sometimes are forced to sleep outdoors. A lifelong resident of the city, she shook her head: “A heatwave in Portland. It’s not usually like this.” Continue reading...
Governors of states such as Florida and Texas, where the Delta variant is surging, have made masks and vaccines a partisan issue, in a lethal mix of ignorance, irrationality and nihilismThe crowd gathered under a tent at the water’s edge, their tables decorated with the Stars and Stripes and checked tablecloths. In their midst in Austin county, Texas, last Saturday was the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, laughing with delight and playing the fiddle.With the coronavirus roaring through the state and hospitals near breaking point, comparisons with Nero fiddling while Rome burned were irresistible, although journalist Alisha Grauso pointed out on Twitter: “Nero actually enacted sweeping relief efforts to try to quell the fire and also offer his people aid in the aftermath, particularly the lower class, so Abbott is somehow worse than a Roman emperor known today as being a psychotic tyrant.” Continue reading...
The president has been condemned by Republicans as the Taliban advance – but the roots of the crisis date back yearsThe words of political leaders can come back to haunt them. “None whatsoever, zero,” Joe Biden said last month when asked if he saw any parallels between the US withdrawals from Vietnam and Afghanistan.“The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of the embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.” Continue reading...
Governor says ‘I cannot emphasize enough the seriousness of this crisis’ as Texas and Florida make up 40% of US hospitalizationsAs the Delta variant continued to rip through regions of the US, Oregon’s governor said she would send up to 1,500 national guard troops to help hospital workers pushed to the brink by a surge of cases, while the White House announced that Texas and Florida alone accounted for almost 40% of new US Covid hospitalizations last week.Democrat Kate Brown said troops would be sent to 20 hospitals around the state. Seven hundred and thirty-three 733 people were hospitalized in Oregon as of Friday, including 185 people in intensive care units – 60 more than a day before and nearly double the figure of two weeks ago. Continue reading...
Experts address concerns over face coverings, sniffles and potential closures as the Delta variant spreadsAcross the US, schools are opening their doors. For some students, this fall marks the first time back in a classroom in more than a year.The Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree about prioritizing in-person learning. But the return to school isn’t without risk. Continue reading...
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Lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, says Sutton was ‘trafficked’ by ex-Elite Model boss to ‘wealthy men across Europe’Ex-model Carré Sutton has filed a lawsuit alleging that Gérald Marie, the French former modeling agency boss, repeatedly raped her at his Paris apartment when she was just 17 years old.The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, also maintains that Sutton was “trafficked by Marie to other wealthy men around Europe”. Continue reading...
Florida education commissioner threatens sanctions against county school board if it defies the state’s anti-masking law, even as cases surgeFour teachers in Florida’s Broward county have died from Covid-19 this week as the Delta variant of coronavirus rages in the state amid political rows over mask mandates and vaccination.“Within a 24-hour span, we had an assistant teacher pass away, a teacher at her school pass away, an elementary teacher pass away and another teacher at a high school,” Anna Fusco, president of Broward Teachers Union, which covers one of the country’s largest school districts, told local media outlets. Continue reading...
A vaccine arms race is brewing before the NFL season starts in September – but several star players are reluctant to play ballThe tenor and tone of the NFL’s approach to the pandemic has shifted as the league moves into its second season in a Covid world. Last year it was all kumbaya, rah-rah, football-will-guide-us-through-the-darkness type of rhetoric. There was a community aspect to the league’s attitude. Everybody worked to ensure that the season could go ahead and that the nation’s top entertainment vehicle did not default on any of its multibillion dollar contracts.The league gave concessions to teams and the players. Safeguards were built in to try to protect the integrity of the competition. Players were not held personally responsible for testing positive or coming into contact with Covid. It was treated as a team-wide issue, a societal issue, not the fault of any single individual. Continue reading...
Even before the western withdrawal and Taliban resurgence, the country was on its knees. A refugee crisis is now inevitableIn recent days, a ferocious wave of fighting has enveloped Afghanistan as the Taliban take more and more territory from the Afghan government. The developing situation makes it extremely difficult to predict how the coming weeks and months will unfold in the country. One thing we do know, however, is that while most media commentary focuses on who has the upper hand militarily, the country inevitably faces a humanitarian catastrophe. Ordinary Afghans are confronted with a triple calamity: dire security, health and economic prospects. These cruel conditions predate the Trump administration’s Doha agreement with the Taliban in February 2020, which began the process of US military withdrawal; they also predate President Biden’s confirmation that full withdrawal will occur by 11 September this year.Afghanistan entered 2021 already in dire straits, with more than 18 million Afghans – nearly half the population – in humanitarian need. Dwindling international aid, a violent conflict, weak governance and environmental challenges such as droughts have all contributed. The impact of the pandemic last year meant that in January 2021 Afghanistan had the world’s second-highest number of people facing emergency food insecurity. Continue reading...
Gerrymandering allows legislators to ignore what voters really want. And experts fear it’s about to get a lot worseThe United States is becoming a land filled with “democracy deserts”, where gerrymandering and voting restrictions are making voters powerless to make change. And this round of redistricting could make things even worse.Since 2012, the Electoral Integrity Project at Harvard University has studied the quality of elections worldwide. It has also issued bi-annual reports that grade US states, on a scale of 1 through 100. In its most recent study of the 2020 elections, the integrity of Wisconsin’s electoral boundaries earned a 23 – worst in the nation, on par with Jordan, Bahrain and the Congo. Continue reading...
The real worry is the gap between what the country produces and what average folks can afford to consume. Inequality is eating our economyHours after the Democrats passed their $3.5tn budget for Joe Biden’s American Families Plan – including childcare, community college, extended Medicare and measures to slow climate change – the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, whose vote is necessary to get it through the Senate, made an ominous announcement. He had “serious concerns” about its size, warning it would add trillions of dollars to the national debt and spur inflation.One expects Republican lawmakers to demagogue about inflation and spending. To hear this from a Democrat is jaw-dropping. Continue reading...
Newcastle council is re-examining Britain’s colonial past by adding context to its Boer war memorial. It is right to do soNewcastle city council’s decision to add two plaques to its memorial to the Boer war of 1899-1902 has triggered a feverish reaction. One plaque will contextualise the colonial history of the war; the other will reflect the views of local residents. No sooner was the change announced than the right’s “whack-a-woke” culture warriors descended upon the city. But the council’s engagement with the legacy of the Boer war – and Britain’s blood-soaked role in it – should be welcomed by anyone who values serious and honest engagement with history.The monument in question lists the names of 370 fallen soldiers from the north-east, participants in a war in which more than 20,000 imperial combatants died and many more suffered. It is only one of many similar monuments that shape Britain’s urban landscape. Some celebrate military heroes; others, such as the one in Newcastle, focus more on ordinary soldiers and volunteers. It features a figure symbolising Northumbria gesturing upwards towards a beneficent winged statue of Victory; to locals it is known as the “Mucky Angel” – as clear an indication as any that the meanings of public statues change over time, not least when they hide in plain sight. Continue reading...
ElliQ robot is among a plethora of technologies being created to try to comfort, entertain and inform seniors but critics say machines trying to mimic human intimacy raise ethical issuesJuanita Erickson got her robot companion about two years ago. A company representative gave a presentation about the device to residents at the independent living facility in the San Francisco Bay Area where Erickson resides. “I thought ‘something to liven up life a bit … well that sounds like fun’,” says the former high school literature and journalism teacher, who prides herself on being a lifelong learner.Erickson, 93, remembers the day her ElliQ device arrived. It was strange at first hearing a metallic voice ask how she was or if she wanted to know an interesting fact or the weather, but she got used to it. There are certain things she has come to depend on ElliQ for, and it knows a lot about her. In common with many users, Erickson refers to ElliQ as “she” and it does sound somewhat female. Continue reading...
The east coast city with a reputation for racial inequality is poised to choose a new leader from an all ethnic minority short-list, including four womenBoston is a city of firsts.The first official US police force, established 1631; birthplace of the American Revolution in 1775; the inaugural World Series won by their Red Sox baseball team in 1903. Continue reading...
State’s public health efforts hobbled by low vaccination rates and crowded housing following last year’s hurricane seasonLike so many people in Louisiana, Tyler Duplantis was hesitant to get a Covid-19 vaccine.The 26-year-old witnessed the virus tear through his Native American tribe, the United Houma Nation, last year. But when the vaccine became available to him, he was skeptical for several reasons. Continue reading...
The white population has fallen by 8.6%, and population growth among racial minorities isn’t just in citiesThe past decade has brought about a rapid increase in the number of people of color in the US, but unlike past decades, the population growth of racial minorities wasn’t just in major metropolitan areas, the latest census figures show.The percentage of racial minorities increased in coastal suburbs, manufacturing towns and even midwestern farming counties. Continue reading...
White population falls below 60%, underscoring what’s at stake as lawmakers begin drawing political mapsAmerica’s white population declined for the first time while US metro areas were responsible for almost all of the country’s population growth, according to groundbreaking new data released on Thursday by the US census bureau. Continue reading...
Bankruptcy judge to begin considering settlement as most of the groups with claims against Purdue are on board with the planPurdue Pharma’s quest to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of OxyContin and its other prescription opioid painkillers entered its final phase Thursday with the grudging support of many of those who have claims against the company.Nearly two years after seeking bankruptcy protection, the company appeared before a US bankruptcy court judge to ask for approval of its plan to reorganize into a new entity no longer controlled by members of the wealthy Sackler family, and with profits dedicated to abating the opioid crisis. Continue reading...
Only 35.6% of residents are fully vaccinated in the state, which is opening a field hospital as officials brace for climbing death tollHealth officials in Mississippi have warned the state’s hospital system is on the brink of failure due to a surge in Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US south as the Delta variant rips through the country.The deep south state, where only 35.6% of residents are fully vaccinated, is opening a 50-bed field hospital at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) car park with the assistance of the federal government as officials brace for a climbing death toll and ICU units reach capacity. Continue reading...
• Carol Alvarado wears running shoes during marathon speech• Civil arrest warrants delivered to 50 absent DemocratsThe Texas senate has passed a bill that would impose voting restrictions in the state, shortly after a Democratic legislator concluded a 15-hour filibuster of the proposal.Carol Alvarado, a state senator, had continued her filibuster into Thursday morning in the latest tactic to extend the nation’s most visible standoff over voting rights. Continue reading...
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Matthew Taylor Coleman, a surfing school owner, said he believed children had ‘serpent DNA’, according to FBIA California surfing school owner has been charged with killing his two young children after driving them from their home in Santa Barbara to Mexico.During an interview with the FBI, Matthew Taylor Coleman confessed that he had taken his two-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter to Rosarito, Mexico, where he shot a “spear fishing gun” into their chests, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent with the criminal complaint. Continue reading...
Activists and Biden officials have helped reunite 861 children with their parents but 337 remain in limboUS officials still cannot find the parents of 337 children separated at the Mexico-border by the Trump administration.According to a new court filing released on Wednesday by the justice department and the American Civil Liberties Union, attorneys, activists and Biden officials have helped reunite 861 children with their parents but 337 remain in limbo. Continue reading...
The Olympic experience in Tokyo was hard on us athletes, run by an organization that cares little for us as individuals. But we still dreamThe Tokyo Olympics were set to be one of the greatest Games ever held. As a fan of Japan and its culture, I was looking forward to these Games more than either of my two previous Olympiads. Yet the 2020 Games – set during the Covid-19 pandemic following one of the most politically tumultuous presidencies in American history – turned out nothing like I could have expected.We were greeted by smiling volunteers, but just like myself and my fellow athletes they were told to put on a brave face while the International Olympic Committee ran things in the same dismal way it always has. Continue reading...
This was the kind of bipartisan bill many observers never thought would be possible in 2021. But don’t be too quick to celebrateIs Washington functional? This week would seem to suggest that the answer is a resounding and surprising yes. On Tuesday, 69 senators – 19 Republicans and 50 Democrats – passed the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework”, a $1tn bill that invests in everything from roads and bridges to electric grids and public transit.Related: Kathy Hochul vows to change ‘toxic’ culture as she waits to become New York governor Continue reading...
We are told not to worry about breakthrough cases because they are ‘mild’ – but long Covid is anything but mildOn 1 May, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking breakthrough infections that did not lead to hospitalization or death. Its rationale was to “maximize the quality of the data collected on cases of greatest clinical and public health importance”, making the continued assumption that non-hospitalized Covid cases are not important but “mild”: without complications, manageable at home, where patients fully recover in two weeks.I have dealt with persistent symptoms for 17 months – an illness now called “long Covid” – and not collecting data based on this assumption is an enormous mistake, one that has persisted throughout the pandemic and has severe consequences moving forward. Continue reading...
People in Pacific north-west flock to cooling centers, plus 17 questions to ask yourself before quitting your jobGood morning,Oregon has declared a state of emergency as the Pacific north-west prepares for triple-digit temperatures just weeks after a deadly heatwavestruck the region. People streamed into cooling centers and misting stations on Wednesday evening in an effort to escape the sweltering heat. Continue reading...
Acheleke Fuanya claims officers knelt on his neck in the attack at a Louisiana prison to force him to accept deportationA Cameroonian asylum-seeker is suing the US government for an alleged assault by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, who he said knelt on his neck and suffocated him to try to force him to accept his own deportation.In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, Acheleke Fuanya said the alleged attack, at a Louisiana prison in January, has left him with persistent back and waist pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He also claims lingering Covid symptoms after the alleged incident in which he says the Ice officers were unmasked in violation of official regulations. Continue reading...
Louisa Terrell, White House director of the office of legislative affairs, is the tip of the spear of Biden’s team as she fulfils one of the most difficult jobs in a deeply divided political landscapeIn the early days of the Biden administration members of the new president’s White House legislative affairs team had a meet-and-greet with Senate Republicans’ chiefs-of-staff. At the head of this Democratic delegation was Louisa Terrell, Biden’s White House director of the office of legislative affairs.Terrell, speaking to the audience of powerful Republican aides, laid out how she worked. She felt even in these politically polarized times compromise should be pursued. They wouldn’t agree on everything, but there were deals to be had. At the same time Terrell said, according to four sources with knowledge of this meeting, her team had a job to do and planned to do it. Continue reading...
Pacific north-west prepares for triple-digit temperatures just weeks after heat resulted in hundreds of deaths in regionOregon declared a state of emergency as the Pacific north-west prepared for triple-digit temperatures mere weeks after a deadly heatwave clobbered the region. People streamed into cooling centers and misting stations on Wednesday amid sweltering heat.Governor Kate Brown said: “Oregon is facing yet another extreme heatwave, and it is critical that every level of government has the resources they need to help keep Oregonians safe and healthy.” Continue reading...
‘I will fight like hell for you,’ says Democrat, who is set to become state’s first female governorKathy Hochul, who is set to become New York’s first female governor after Andrew Cuomo resigned over sexual harassment allegations, has said she will work to change the “toxic” work culture in the state’s top office.“The promise I make to all New Yorkers, right here and right now, I will fight like hell for you every single day, like I’ve always done and always will,” the Democrat who has served as Lieutenant Governor since 2015, but remains an unfamiliar face to many in the city, told a press conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...
David Lidstone, known locally as 'River Dave', lived an off-the-grid life for three decades until last week when his cabin burned down. On 15 July, Lidstone was jailed on a civil contempt sanction and was told he would be released if he agreed to leave the cabin, following a property dispute that started in 2016. The landowner, 86-year-old Leonard Giles, wanted Lidstone to leave the property. A fire destroyed Lidstone’s cabin hours after he defended himself during a court hearing last Wednesday. Nevertheless, Lidstone says he is not grieving the loss of his life in isolation
To emerge truly victorious the US president will have to win over the right of the Democratic party and push for big, bold changeOn Tuesday, 19 Republican senators, including minority leader Mitch McConnell, joined with Democrats to pass Joe Biden’s $550bn infrastructure bill. In a polarised age, this act of bipartisan politics seems miraculous. To vote for the bill, Senate Republicans had to go against the wishes of Donald Trump, who had warned against handing Mr Biden a victory before midterm polls in 2022. They also U-turned on a core Republican principle: that private investment is superior to government intervention.Yet the Republicans’ vote was rooted in self-interest. Only four will face the voters next year and the spending was popular, even with Republicans. Crucially Mr McConnell had protected the filibuster. Unless Republicans relented, Mr Biden might have done away with legislative tool that preserves the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for legislative success. Instead Mr Biden thanked his opponents for their courage in backing his proposal. This moment represents a test of Biden’s faith that Congress, and democracy, can still work and get things done. Continue reading...
Those being expelled risk being sent back to the very dangers they fled, UNHCR saysThe UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has expressed concern about a new US practice of transferring asylum seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico.Those being expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the very dangers they have fled in their countries of origin in Central America without any opportunity to have those needs assessed and addressed, UNHCR said. Continue reading...
Number of patients seeking tests in the state has more than doubled from a month ago, fueled by the Delta variantMedical providers and pharmacies in the California Bay Area are scrambling to keep up with the newly-increased demand for Covid-19 testing, as cases of the virus surge fueled by the highly-contagious Delta variant.At one CVS pharmacy in Richmond on Tuesday, a sign taped to the front door announced “Rapid Covid tests temporarily sold out”. At a hospital in the city where the drive-thru Covid testing site had recently been taken down, a line of walk-in patients seeking tests stretched down the block in front of the hospital. And in San Francisco last week, the old scene of lines of cars with passengers inside waiting to be tested was back at the city’s drive through test site. Continue reading...
People across the state have suffered from the governor’s me-first approach to politicsAndrew Cuomo, the governor of the state of New York, has resigned after the publication of a report by the attorney general which documented that he sexually harassed 11 women and his staff retaliated against one of those women who had the temerity to speak out. (Cuomo denies any wrongdoing.)Some commentators have taken the opportunity to note that not only did he run a toxic workplace, sexually harass staff and violate state and federal laws in his actions, he also has run the state poorly, despite the reputation he developed during the coronavirus pandemic. But, based in part on my experience of having worked in his administration, it would be more accurate to say that Cuomo has run New York poorly because he ran a toxic workplace, sexually harassed staff and violated state and federal laws. Continue reading...
