Protesters shut down a press conference by Congress members Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Louis Gohmert and Paul Gosar about the arrests and investigation of the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.The far-right Republican members of Congress stood outside the US Department of Justice and said they were demanding answers on the treatment and status of the prisoners jailed in connection with the 6 January riot. Gaetz, Greene, Gohmert and Gosar have staunchly defended former president Donald Trump and his supporters.The news conference comes as police officers testified to a Democratic-led House of Representatives investigatory committee in its first session probing the incident
by Martin Pengelly, Maya Yang in New York and agency on (#5MMX6)
Revision of mask guidelines comes amid a surge in Covid cases as Delta variant becomes more prevalentThe nation’s top health agency revised its mask guidance on Tuesday and now recommends fully vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors in certain places.In a shift from its earlier guidance issued on 13 May, which said vaccinated individuals did not need to wear masks in most indoor settings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now advises Americans to wear a mask in “public indoor settings” with “substantial and high transmission”. This comes amid a surge in Covid cases as the highly contagious Delta variant has become more prevalent. Continue reading...
Move declines to assert executive privilege for then acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, clearing path for others to testifyFormer Trump administration officials can testify to Congress about Donald Trump’s role in the deadly January attack on the Capitol and his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, the justice department (DoJ) has said in a letter obtained by the Guardian.The move by the justice department declined to assert executive privilege for Trump’s acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, clearing the path for other top former officials to also testify to congressional committees investigating the Capitol attack without fear of repercussions. Continue reading...
The world was clamouring for the American to outdo her competitors as well as herself. It took exceptional bravery for her to step backShe hadn’t lost in all-round competition since Frozen pipped Iron Man 3 at the box office, has four moves (four!) named after her, attempts routines that literally break the scoring system – routines some male colleagues won’t even try. She so reliably makes gymnastics a trending topic that no less than Twitter was compelled to create a goat emoji to reflect her status as the Greatest of All Time; never mind that she is just 24 years old. Those four golds she won in her Rio Games debut? Pfft. Light work, they promised. Wait till Tokyo, and you’ll see how easily she reels in Larisa Latynina’s all-time record of nine career golds. For the five years that Simone Biles has reigned supreme over her sport, all we’ve heard is how she’s the next surest thing after death and taxes. Until, of course, she wasn’t.On Tuesday, as her American team was in the early stages of the women’s gymnastics team final, Biles huddled with a trainer after a flubbed attempt on her opening vault. When she then exited the competition floor with a USA Gymnastics doctor, the world held its collective breath. The excitement of seeing her reemerge several minutes later was quickly tempered when she slipped off her bar grips and hugged teammates Grace McCallum, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles before slipping into sweatpants and a jacket and urging on her teammates. Continue reading...
From silencing opponents to spying on citizens, the world’s authoritarians are refining a strategy for perpetual ruleDemocracy depends on an equality of arms. If governments acquire political weapons unavailable to their opponents, they become harder to dislodge. They now possess so many that I begin to wonder how an efficient autocracy, once established, might ever again be overthrown.The Pegasus spyware, whose widespread use by governments the Guardian has helped reveal, is just the latest variety of asymmetric force. The ability to peer into someone’s life from a distance, to track their every movement, word and intention, grants autocrats an unprecedented power. It turns us into informants against ourselves. No one subject to this spying can now plan, however peacefully and democratically, to replace a government without those plans being known in advance and in all likelihood thwarted. Continue reading...
Simone Biles was forced to withdraw from the women’s team gymnastics final at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday, citing mental health concerns after a difficult opening vault. The four-times Olympic champion said she had been struggling mentally in recent days and after the vault, she decided she wanted to 'take a back seat' and was confident her teammates would win a medal. Biles has not yet decided if she will compete in the all around final on Thursday.
The aggression that has made the US women’s team great is lacking at Tokyo 2020. But they have come back from slow starts before and prosperedPerfection has long been the standard for the United States women’s soccer team, a burden embraced through the years. By that measure, the Americans were a shadow of themselves through the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics, losing their opener 3-0 to Sweden, and playing Australia to a dull, scoreless draw on Tuesday to advance to the knockout stage.A cliché more grounded in realism, however, is one which US players have recited at past major tournaments: the group stage is just about getting through, and the ‘second’ tournament begins in the knockouts. The Americans are at phase two now, as they always are, but their gold-medal aspirations look far less certain than they did a week ago. Continue reading...
by Alvin Chang, Andrew Witherspoon and Sam Levine on (#5MMRE)
This is why many politicians see redistricting as a way to rig the system in their favorPolitical strategists have long known that they can manipulate the electoral redistricting process.In 1991, Republican mapmaker Thomas Hofeller said: “I define redistricting as the only legalized form of vote-stealing left in the United States today.” In the following decades, he drew gerrymandered maps that gave Republicans electoral advantages across the country. Continue reading...
Former Trump press secretary criticises ‘arrogant’ medical experts but admits the benefits of the shot outweigh any potential risksThe former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has urged people in Arkansas to “pray about it” before considering whether to get what she dubbed the “Trump vaccine” against Covid-19.Related: US will not lift travel restrictions ‘at this point’ due to spread of Delta variant Continue reading...
by Joan E Greve in Washington, Dani Anguiano in San F on (#5MM1J)
Department of Veterans Affairs becomes first major federal agency to require healthcare workers to receive Covid shotCalifornia and New York City announced on Monday that they would require all government employees to get the coronavirus vaccine or face weekly Covid-19 testing, and the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first major federal agency to require healthcare workers to receive the shot.Related: Fauci says health officials considering mask guidance revision for vaccinated Continue reading...
Who will testify, who will lead the proceedings, and why are there so few Republicans on the committee?The long-awaited investigation into the 6 January insurrection will begin on Tuesday, when a House special committee convenes to investigate the deadly attack on the US Capitol.It has been more than six months since hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to prevent Joe Biden’s confirmation as president, and two months since Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan plan to establish an independent commission to explore the attack. Continue reading...
BMX welcomes its flashier sibling to the Ariake Urban Sports Park and the results are sure to be spectacularThirteen years after BMX racing made its Games debut in Beijing, the off-road cycling pursuit has welcomed its flashier sibling, BMX freestyle, into the Olympic fold. Both disciplines are fast and furious, but with distinctly different styles.The debutant discipline is mesmerising: freestyle riders are given 60 seconds to cause havoc across an obstacle-filled park. They pull as many tricks as they can, receiving an average score from a panel of judges based on 11 distinct criteria. In the final, each rider is given two runs – the best single score wins. The manic front-flips and back-flips make for compelling viewing. Continue reading...
House select committee will investigate circumstances around 6 January attack on US Capitol amid Republican boycottGood morning.The investigation into the 6 January attack on the US Capitol opens on Tuesday, with the special committee established by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, convening to hear testimony from law enforcement. Continue reading...
Black women who use lye-based hair relaxers at least seven times a year for 15 or more years have a 30% increased risk of breast cancerA new study reveals what some scientists and researchers have suspected for years – that frequent and long-term use of lye-based hair relaxers may have serious health effects, including breast cancer. Published in Oxford University’s Carcinogenesis Journal, the study found that Black women who used these products at least seven times a year for 15 or more years had a roughly 30% increased risk of developing breast cancer compared with more infrequent users.The research team also analyzed survey data from Boston University’s Black Women’s Health Study, which followed more than 50,000 African American women for more than 25 years and observed their medical diagnoses and any factors that could influence their health. The results? Of the women followed from 1997 to 2017, 95% reported using lye-based relaxers, and ultimately 2,311 developed breast cancers. Continue reading...
A supreme court justice described the last round of gerrymandering as ‘dishonoring US democracy’. Another round is about to start – will this be another ‘political heist’?Ten years ago, Republicans pulled off what would later be described as “the most audacious political heist of modern times”.It wasn’t particularly complicated. Every 10 years, the US constitution requires states to redraw the maps for both congressional and state legislative seats. The constitution entrusts state lawmakers with the power to draw those districts. Looking at the political map in 2010, Republicans realized that by winning just a few state legislative seats in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, they could draw maps that would be in place for the next decade, distorting them to guarantee Republican control for years to come. Continue reading...
The American swimmer is extraordinary over short distances but she has also mastered skills that make her almost unbeatable over 1500mAfter Katie Ledecky versus Ariarne Titmus, prepare for Ledecky against herself.That’s how it seems, anyway, when the American swims the 1500m freestyle: she is so superior to her rivals that only a major – and highly unlikely – technical or tactical breakdown could deny her victory. Continue reading...
Several more were in hospital with critical injuries after high winds blew up dust and impaired visibilityAt least eight people have been killed in a 20-vehicle pileup during a sandstorm in Utah, the highway patrol said.The crashes happened on Interstate 15 near the town of Kanosh on Sunday, the agency said in a news release. Several people were reportedly taken to hospitals in critical condition. Ground and air ambulances were used to transport crash victims. Continue reading...
Lawyer now faces six months in jail following a decades-long battle against the oil companySteven Donziger, the lawyer who has spearheaded a lengthy fight against Chevron over pollution in the Amazon rainforest, has been found guilty of criminal contempt by a US federal judge in the latest twist in his decades-long legal battle with the oil company.On Monday, US district judge Loretta Preska ruled that Donziger was guilty of six contempt charges brought against him for refusing to hand over evidence in a complex legal wrangle that has pitted the lawyer directly against Chevron. Continue reading...
by Adam Collins, Paul Campbell, Daniel Harris, Emma K on (#5MK3Z)
Gold medals for Adam Peaty, Tom Pidcock and the men’s synchronised 10m platform divers saw the day christened Magic Monday by desperate Britons12.08am BSTThe leaders are off their bikes, slipping on their trainers and starting the final athlon of the triathlon in bright sunshine. Georgia Taylor-Brown was dropped in the final half-lap of the bike ride as she cycled on one flat tyre, leaving a leading group of four composed of Jess Learmonth, Katie Zaferes, Flora Duffy and Laura Lindemann, with Taylor-Brown around 20sec behind.. Tom Lutz will take you through the remainder of the race if you click on the link that follows. This liveblog will end here. This is a dead end. There’s nothing to see here, please move along.Related: Tokyo Olympics 2020: women’s triathlon, swimming, tennis and more – live!12.03am BSTOnto the last lap, and the leading five have a 1min 13sec advantage. As they transition into the run in a few minutes, we’re going to switch to an entirely new liveblog to cover a new day (this will be particularly confusing if you’re not in the UK at the moment - we’ve got to start our days somewhere). You can find this blog here:Related: Tokyo Olympics 2020: women’s triathlon, swimming, tennis and more – live! Continue reading...
Estelle Hedaya, 54, identified a month after middle-of-the-night catastrophe ultimately claimed 98 livesThe final victim of the condo building collapse in Florida has been identified, a relative said Monday, more than a month after the middle-of-the-night catastrophe that ultimately claimed 98 lives.Estelle Hedaya, an outgoing 54-year-old with a love of travel, was the last victim identified, ending what her relatives described as a torturous four-week wait. Continue reading...
Restrictions that bar much of the world’s population from the US since 2020 will not be lifted in the short term, White House saysThe United States will not lift any existing travel restrictions “at this point” due to concerns over the highly transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant and the rising number of US coronavirus cases, the White House confirmed on Monday.The decision comes after a senior level White House meeting late on Friday. It means that the long-running travel restrictions that have barred much of the world’s population from the United States since 2020 will not be lifted in the short term. Continue reading...
Defense department promises improvements in quality of life and mental health help on army basesThe defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has expressed concern about the alarming spike in suicides among US forces.In 2020, 385 active-duty soldiers died by suicide, marking a steep increase from the 326 cases reported by the Pentagon in 2018. Continue reading...
In 2011 a repressive, authoritarian government collapsed because it proved unable to meet people’s demands. Why would its return solve anything?In 2011 Tunisia was the first Arab nation to topple its dictator, and the only one where genuine democracy survives. But events in the capital, Tunis, suggest that the country is experiencing a counter-revolution. On Sunday the president, Kais Saied, fired the country’s prime minister, dismissed the government and froze parliament. Mr Saied has suspended lawmakers’ parliamentary immunity, a pointed warning to political opponents. It is never a good sign when security forces storm television stations. Demonstrations have broken out – with protesters taking to the streets both in support for the president, and against him. The warmth of the Arab spring has definitely turned into the chill of winter.The opposition – led principally by Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party with the most seats in parliament – called his actions “a coup”. It’s hard to disagree with that description. But many in Tunisia either shrug their shoulders or, even worse, are drawn to demagogues, religious hardliners and those who praise the country’s former dictatorship. The reason that sections of the population are receptive to either apathy or illiberal notions is that freedom and democracy in Tunisia have not delivered political stability and a prosperous economy. Instead corruption, inflation and unemployment persist. For the past few years Tunisians have taken to the streets to express their dissatisfaction, sometimes violently. Continue reading...
The era when American players could win gold at the Games just by showing up is over. The rest of the world has simply become too goodIt’s too easy to make excuses for the Team USA men’s basketball team as it stumbles, and stumbles again, on the court.It’s too easy to point out that this is international play, and these are international referees and rules, that this isn’t the NBA, that the points and fouls aren’t coming the way they do at home. Continue reading...
Stories of the Mexican revolutionary, preserved in family lore, are unlikely to feature in Texas’s whitewashed 1836 ProjectMy maternal grandmother was a head nurse in a hospital in the northern state of Chihuahua during the Mexican Revolution – an epic event that affected both sides of the border and caused my family to permanently move to the United States to escape the violence.Grandmother worked at the hospital, family lore goes, when the infamous general Pancho Villa seized the facility and left his wounded troops to the hospital’s care. Mama, as we called her, took it upon herself to watch out for the female nurses amid all the soldiers, some of whom made unwanted sexual advances to them. She reported them to Villa’s officers. That’s when Villa showed up and asked Mama to point out the offending soldiers. When she did, he drew his pistol and summarily executed the men, astonishing the witnesses and delivering the message to his army that this behavior would not be tolerated. Continue reading...
Individual who contracted the disease caused by a virus similar to smallpox returned to Texas from Nigeria in JulyUS health officials are monitoring more than 200 people for potential exposure to monkeypox, after an individual who contracted the disease in Nigeria returned to Texas in July.Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by a virus similar to smallpox. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research. Continue reading...
Coast Capital also demands two board members step down over sell-off of US businessesFirstGroup’s biggest shareholder has demanded the resignation of the transport firm’s chief executive and two board members, after failing to prevent the sell-off of its American businesses.Coast Capital, the New York-based hedge fund which owns about 15% of the group, had opposed the $3.1bn sale of the FirstStudent and FirstTransit businesses to Swedish group EQT, arguing the price was too low for the school and city bus services. Continue reading...
Reza Baluchi told the coast guard he was headed 1,000 miles north in a running wheel contraption but ended up 30 miles southA Florida man startled beachgoers when he washed ashore inside a hybrid bubble-running wheel device.The man, identified by a local news channel as Reza Baluchi, washed ashore in Flagler county on the east coast of Florida on Saturday. Continue reading...
In a confrontation that swiftly went viral, a Montana man told the Fox News host Tucker Carlson: 'You are the worst human being known to mankind.' The man, identified on Instagram as Dan Bailey, posted the video of the encounter in a sporting goods store on 23 July. Carlson, the US channel’s most-watched host, is a key influence on rightwing politics and invective and has recently come under fire for questioning the effectiveness and safety of Covid-19 vaccines while refusing to say if he has had one, and for stoking racial division
by Tom Dart at the Asaka Shooting Range on (#5MKHA)
Amber English won the third gold of the Games for the US shooting team, who back home have joined forces with an ultra-conservative collegeIt was a rough winter for the US shooting team, with some members sent to practise in an abandoned Macy’s department store when the pandemic closed their training centre. At least in Tokyo they have acquired some high-end baubles.Amber English won the women’s skeet gold medal on Monday and Vincent Hancock triumphed in the men’s event, a day after Will Shaner was victorious in the men’s 10-metre air rifle. All set Olympic record scores. Continue reading...
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