politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: The Guardian

Monday, 12 April 2021

The Guardian

Clyburn offers Manchin history lesson to clear Senate path for Biden reforms
Protests near Minneapolis after fatal police shooting at traffic stop
Hideki Matsuyama holds nerve to become Masters champion
Republicans push ‘tsunami’ of harsh anti-protest laws after BLM rallies
Baftas 2021: Nomadland wins big as Promising Young Woman and Anthony Hopkins surprise
BBC pulls Prince Philip online form after complaints hit peak
Matt Gaetz: Liz Cheney ‘sickened’ but stops short of calling for resignation
China launches hotline to report ‘illegal’ comments about Communist party
Virginia governor orders investigation of Caron Nazario police traffic stop
Israel appears to confirm it carried out cyberattack on Iran nuclear facility
Amorous alligators put Florida on alert as mating season begins
Michigan governor vows to push Biden for more vaccines as Covid cases surge
Coronavirus live news: Warning as English pub gardens reopen; India sees record case rise, overtaking Brazil total
Canada ski resort linked to largest outbreak of P1 Covid variant outside Brazil
Moby on fame and regret: ‘I was an out-of-control, utterly entitled drink and drug addict’
‘She made a pact with God’: why the Queen is not likely to abdicate
The solution to California’s rampant sea urchin problem is to eat them. I gave it a try
Colombia’s cartels target Europe with cocaine, corruption and torture
‘Suddenly I’m breathing’: hope as Haaland takes on crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans
China v Russia v America: is 2021 the year Orwell’s 1984 comes true?
The tech giants’ diet is bad for everyone’s health | David Mitchell
Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Sixth person dies after shooting involving former NFL player Phillip Adams
Lacazette doubles up in Arsenal’s comfortable win at Sheffield United
Remembering the Brixton riots 40 years on – podcast
No man’s land: in crowning Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell, Bafta has triumphed
Saturday Night Live: Carey Mulligan and Kid Cudi address show’s highs and lows
Garrett Bradley: ‘I was wearing sweatpants for one award ceremony and no one knew’
Hear me out: why Gentlemen Broncos isn’t a bad movie
Janet Jackson to sell personal treasures in celebrity auction
Andra Day: ‘I want to be sexy and pow in an awards outfit’
Four Hundred Souls, edited by Ibram X Kendi and Keisha N Blain review – a resounding history of African America
Glenda Jackson: ‘Awards should be something you share… the camaraderie was absent’
Amazon rejects claims it intimidated Alabama workers during union vote
‘Dumb son of a bitch’: Trump attacks McConnell in Republican donors speech
Whitmer won’t go ‘punch for punch’ with Republican who called her a witch
Secretary of state Blinken hits out at China over Taiwan and Covid
Mike Lindell says he hired investigators to find out why Fox News won’t book him
Arkansas governor who vetoed anti-trans law defends other anti-trans bills
Ramsey Clark, attorney general who represented Saddam Hussein, dies at 93
National debt: critics cry hypocrisy as Republicans oppose Biden spending
Florida woman who claimed to be Harry Potter killed judge in hit-and-run, officials say
Despair fuels the flames of young loyalist anger in Northern Ireland
Ukrainian soldier reportedly killed in artillery fire from Russia-backed troops
Meningitis epidemics could be forewarned by weather forecasts in sub-Saharan Africa
Early findings show new drug could be ‘gamechanging’ for brain cancer treatment
UK business confidence jumps as non-essential shops, pubs and restaurants reopen – business live
Police warn of ‘all-out war’ as tribal violence in Papua New Guinea kills 19
Brazil’s meat plant workers at risk from ‘inconceivable’ plan to cut break times
‘They’re old but they’re still guilty’: last Nazi hunter in a race against time
David Cameron breaks 30-day silence over lobbying for Greensill
‘Prince Philip’s death is the end of an era. What is the future for the royals?’
‘No community should suffer this’: Florida’s toxic breach was decades in the making
Choreographing Mozart and Kumbh Mela: the weekend’s best photos

Clyburn offers Manchin history lesson to clear Senate path for Biden reforms

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 10:48 AM PDT

Majority whip faces up to West Virginia senator on filibuster
Georgia voting law is 'new Jim Crow', congressman insists
'Dumb son of a bitch': Trump attacks McConnell

Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip, said on Sunday he intends to give Joe Manchin a lesson in US history as he attempts to clear a path for Joe Biden on voting rights and infrastructure.

Protests near Minneapolis after fatal police shooting at traffic stop

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 10:26 PM PDT

Twenty-year-old Minnesota man Daunte Wright was shot by police in state already on edge over Chauvin trial

Police in the Minneapolis area shot and killed a man in the city of Brooklyn Center on Sunday afternoon, sparking clashes between hundreds of protesters and police officers in an area already on edge during the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin.

Family members at the scene of the shooting identified the victim as 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who is Black. According to Brooklyn Center police, the incident occurred shortly before 2pm when an officer pulled over a vehicle due to an alleged traffic violation. Police stated that the driver re-entered the vehicle as officers attempted to take him into custody and one officer opened fire.

Hideki Matsuyama holds nerve to become Masters champion

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 04:13 PM PDT

Final round of 73 enough to secure Green Jacket
Matsuyama becomes first Japanese male major winner

One can only assume Hideki Matsuyama did not feel the heavy burden of history at all. There is no other reasonable explanation for the manner in which the 29-year-old won the 85th edition of the Masters. Matsuyama has become the first Asian player to don a Green Jacket and the only Japanese male to win a major.

His is a victory that will reverberate far beyond this exclusive corner of Georgia. Positive impacts for golf as a whole, it can only be hoped, will follow. A nation that has long since developed an affinity with this sport belatedly has its idol. The Green Jackets, who regard themselves as progressives these days, will be giddy with excitement at the expansion of their roll of honour into fresh territory. A global game needs global stars, after all.

Republicans push ‘tsunami’ of harsh anti-protest laws after BLM rallies

Posted: 12 Apr 2021 12:00 AM PDT

Critics say the bills introduced across the country would infringe free speech rights and disproportionately target people of color

After a year where Black Lives Matter demonstrations saw Americans begin to re-address and re-think racial inequality in the nation, a pushback from predominantly Republican lawmakers is on the horizon, with 29 states in the US moving to introduce draconian anti-protest laws.

Florida is the most recent state to bring in legislation which critics say would crackdown on demonstrations, infringe free speech rights and potentially disproportionately target people of color, while other states have pursued anti-protest bills which could even prevent those convicted from receiving public benefits.

Baftas 2021: Nomadland wins big as Promising Young Woman and Anthony Hopkins surprise

Posted: 12 Apr 2021 12:21 AM PDT

Diverse nominees translate into fairly traditional winners, with Emerald Fennell's directorial debut taking best British film and Hopkins becoming oldest ever male acting winner

Nomadland, Chloé Zhao's elegiac drama about the life of ageing van-dwellers in America, has confirmed its position as Oscars frontrunner with four wins at the 74th Bafta awards, including best film.

Zhao took best director, making her only the second woman – following Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 – to pick up the award. Nomadland also won cinematography and leading actress for Frances McDormand.

BBC pulls Prince Philip online form after complaints hit peak

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 08:52 AM PDT

Ratings plummeted after decision to axe Friday night favourites following announcement of duke's death

The BBC has taken down an online form used to process complaints about blanket coverage of Prince Philip's death after the number of complaints reached a peak.

Planned scheduling has been back in place since 2pm on Saturday, after BBC One and BBC Two cleared their schedules to simulcast more than 24 hours of programmes about the Duke of Edinburgh.

Matt Gaetz: Liz Cheney ‘sickened’ but stops short of calling for resignation

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 11:26 AM PDT

Nancy Pelosi says Republican in 'clear violation' of House rules
'Dumb son of a bitch': Trump attacks McConnell

Two of the most powerful women in Congress on Sunday called allegations of sexual misconduct against the Republican representative Matt Gaetz "sickening" and in "clear violation" of House rules – but stopped short of calling for him to resign.

China launches hotline to report ‘illegal’ comments about Communist party

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 04:37 PM PDT

Public encouraged to report internet users who cast doubt on party's version of history ahead of its 100th anniversary

China's cyber regulator has launched a hotline to report online criticism of the ruling Communist party and its history, vowing to crack down on "historical nihilists" ahead of the party's 100th anniversary in July.

The tip line allows people to report fellow internet users who "distort" the party's history, attack its leadership and policies, defame national heroes and "deny the excellence of advanced socialist culture" online, said a notice posted by an arm of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Friday.

Virginia governor orders investigation of Caron Nazario police traffic stop

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 05:08 PM PDT

Army lieutenant alleges rights violations by Windsor officers
Northam calls for 'dialogue about reform in our country'

The governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, said on Sunday he was "disturbed and angered" by an incident in which an army lieutenant was threatened, knocked down and pepper-sprayed by two police officers during a traffic stop.

Israel appears to confirm it carried out cyberattack on Iran nuclear facility

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 10:24 AM PDT

Shutdown happened hours after Natanz reactor's new centrifuges were started

Israel appeared to confirm claims that it was behind a cyber-attack on Iran's main nuclear facility on Sunday, which Tehran's nuclear energy chief described as an act of terrorism that warranted a response against its perpetrators.

The apparent attack took place hours after officials at the Natanz reactor restarted spinning advanced centrifuges that could speed up the production of enriched uranium, in what had been billed as a pivotal moment in the country's nuclear programme.

Amorous alligators put Florida on alert as mating season begins

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 11:00 PM PDT

State plays down threat to humans but warns of 'more active and more visible' gators as warmer weather heats up reptilian passions

With toilet-invading iguanas, deadly hybrid super-serpents and toxic giant toads, no corner of Florida is ever completely safe from the threat of a marauding reptile.

Michigan governor vows to push Biden for more vaccines as Covid cases surge

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 12:44 PM PDT

Gretchen Whitmer: 'We could get more vaccines in arms'
Michigan has highest rate of new Covid infections in US
Midwest sees signs of a new wave as hospitalisations soar

Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, vowed on Sunday to push the Biden administration for more Covid-19 vaccines as her state experiences a worrying spike in cases.

Coronavirus live news: Warning as English pub gardens reopen; India sees record case rise, overtaking Brazil total

Posted: 12 Apr 2021 12:13 AM PDT

Australia scraps Covid vaccination timeline; India becomes second-worst affected country worldwide after US; England shops, salons and outdoor dining reopen for first time in four months

8.13am BST

One thing that might dampen enthusiasm for reopening in England today – the good old British weather. Kevin Rawlinson reports:

The lifting of lockdown restrictions to allow people in England to use pub beer gardens and dine in the outdoor areas of restaurants is being met by snowfall, as a spring cold snap hits.

8.10am BST

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said it was a "big day" for reopening businesses, and that many were "excited and desperate" to welcome customers back.

"It's a big day for the country and it's a big day for all of these businesses reopening their doors today," PA report she told Sky News. "They are very excited and desperate to welcome their customers back with the focus on safety."

Canada ski resort linked to largest outbreak of P1 Covid variant outside Brazil

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Whistler, in British Columbia, has nearly 200 of 877 confirmed cases in the province but officials have only a murky idea of how widely variant has spread

For ski resorts, spring normally marks a final chance for visitors to carve sun-drenched runs before the season ends.

But at Canada's most famous ski resort, the gondolas have stopped, and the slopes are eerily quiet.

Moby on fame and regret: ‘I was an out-of-control, utterly entitled drink and drug addict’

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 10:00 PM PDT

He declared his intention to go away for a while after pointed criticism of his second memoir. But now the musician is back with a new album - and a visceral documentary

Moby is considering the question he is often asked in interviews: "Do I think I've been treated unfairly?" muses the 55-year-old musician, who, let's face it, is hardly a stranger to terrible press. "Honestly, I don't think I have been. I'm sure there are times when I've been portrayed badly and it was accurate. And even with some of the bad stuff I've been through, I don't have any right to complain. When you look at the 8 billion people on the planet, a reasonably affluent caucasian cis-gendered male public figure musician is not necessarily the first person you think of as having valid criticisms about how they're being treated."

Moby is upbeat today – "I can't think of many things to complain about besides baldness and mortality" – which is perhaps surprising given that the last time he was in the public eye, it involved rather a lot of the aforementioned terrible press. To summarise: in among the shocking confessions, rampant addiction and grotty sex of his second memoir, 2019's Then It Fell Apart, was the claim that the "beautiful actress" Natalie Portman had asked him out when she was 20, at which point he would have been in his mid-30s.

‘She made a pact with God’: why the Queen is not likely to abdicate

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 05:33 AM PDT

Analysis: though she will probably find it hard without Prince Philip, the Queen is unlikely to step down

The Queen, newly widowed, will find it "difficult" without the support she has leant on over 73 years of marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh, but royal observers have dismissed any speculation that she might consider stepping down.

The former prime minister Sir John Major acknowledged that her position as monarch was "a very lonely position". He told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show: "There are a limited number of people to whom she can really open her heart, to whom she can really speak with total frankness, to whom she can say things that would be reported by other people and thought to be indelicate."

The solution to California’s rampant sea urchin problem is to eat them. I gave it a try

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 03:00 AM PDT

Biologists and chefs are urging people to chow down on the purple sea urchins that are destroying California's vital kelp forests. Could I catch and cook my own?

"Babe! I sprayed mouth everywhere!"

I never thought I'd find myself screaming these words on a tranquil Sunday morning in my tiny San Francisco kitchen. Then again, I never thought I'd find myself staring at a sink full of spiky, purple aliens with a knife murderously clutched in one hand, the ethereal voice of Phoebe Bridgers softly crooning in the background.

Colombia’s cartels target Europe with cocaine, corruption and torture

Posted: 10 Apr 2021 11:45 PM PDT

Armed Belgian police raids have lifted the lid on a sinister new front in the drugs war

At 5am on a chilly Tuesday morning last month, 1,600 police officers and balaclava-wearing special forces, bristling with arms and battering rams, were ordered into action around the Belgian port city of Antwerp.

More than 200 addresses were raided in what was the largest police operation ever conducted in the country and potentially one of the most significant moves yet against the increasingly powerful narco-gangs of western Europe.

‘Suddenly I’m breathing’: hope as Haaland takes on crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 12:10 AM PDT

The interior secretary has announced the formation of a new unit to investigate the 'epidemic' of violence

For 30 long years, Ana White has been searching for her sister, Andrea "Chick" White. The then 22-year-old Native mother of four including an eight-month-old baby had traveled to Eureka, California, in July 1991 for a court date, after an auto accident. She was spotted hitchhiking home along a freeway near Blue Lake, in northern California. She has been missing ever since.

White, who described her sister as a great mother and very giving person, has repeatedly prodded local law enforcement, who she said have largely given her "lip service", and helped to spread awareness about the case through social media posts. But for three frustrating decades the situation has remained unchanged.

Now, after the secretary of the interior, Deb Haaland, announced the formation of a new unit to investigate the epidemic of missing and murdered Native Americans, she said she has suddenly found herself with a renewed sense of hope.

"It's like, oh, suddenly I'm breathing. It's like I'm being resuscitated," said White, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. "If my feelings were to be visible, that's what you'd see. Somehow, I've got this oxygen tank right here, and Deb Haaland put it on my side."

Haaland, the first Indigenous cabinet secretary in US history, announced the formation of the Missing & Murdered Unit (MMU) within the Bureau of Indian Affairs office of justice services earlier this month, just two weeks after being sworn in.

In a statement, Haaland, an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna, described the violence against Native people as a "crisis that has been underfunded for decades".

China v Russia v America: is 2021 the year Orwell’s 1984 comes true?

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 01:15 AM PDT

With Putin and Xi moving into an ever closer alliance, Joe Biden's untested US administration may be pushed to the brink

It may just be coincidence that Russia was piling military pressure on Ukraine last week at the same time as China noisily rattled sabres around Taiwan. Spring, to mangle Tennyson, is when a young man's fancy turns to war – and that twisted maxim may even apply to ageing thugs such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

Russia and China are moving into ever closer alliance. While there is no evidence of direct collusion over Ukraine and Taiwan, presidents Putin and Xi are doubtless fully aware of each other's actions, which have an identical, mutually reinforcing effect: putting the wind up Joe Biden's untested US administration.

The tech giants’ diet is bad for everyone’s health | David Mitchell

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 02:00 AM PDT

Allowing the likes of Google and Facebook to reap the rewards of junk food ads leaves a sour taste in the mouth

Sometimes, in my most misanthropic moods, I'm seduced by a libertarian approach to advertising rules. You know, just let it all out there. Let them go for it. Maybe you still try to prevent outright lies, but actually maybe you don't even bother with that. Let them tell us that a McFlurry, say, brings eternal life and see whether doing so would really elevate sales even over the medium term – when the bloated corpses of the McFlurry gorgers begin to stack up.

And we'd be done with expressions such as "increases by up to" and "helps prevent" by which products' efficacy can be almost infinitely exaggerated without a direct lie having been told. I think that might be refreshing, unless phrases by which false concepts are conveyed through an intricate lattice of literal truths turn out to be our current civilisation's only lasting art form, with "not even a black hole can eat three Shredded Wheat" as the central masterpiece, brilliant because it is a lie made permissible only by the fact that no one is supposed to believe it.

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Posted: 12 Apr 2021 12:00 AM PDT

Rodgers prizes discipline over principle, Martinelli cheers up Arsenal while Guardiola's reserves let him down

Manchester United are highly familiar with a José Mourinho team riding their luck against them. A key moment in his rise to prominence was Porto's 2004 triumph at Old Trafford, where Paul Scholes had a goal chalked off for offside. The simmering rage on Ole Gunnar Solskjær's face when Edinson Cavani's "opener" was wiped away by VAR echoed Sir Alex Ferguson 17 years ago, and nine years after that when the disputed dismissal of Nani handed Mourinho's Real Madrid a passage into the Champions League quarter-finals. A United team containing many of Mourinho's former players will have been familiar with Tottenham's botched blueprint to stay in touch with the top four. Keeping shape in defence and midfield was the bedrock for the brilliance with which Lucas Moura set up Son Heung-min to score. But unlike those Porto and Madrid teams, this Spurs team does not have the same resilience or quality to exploit good fortune. John Brewin

Sixth person dies after shooting involving former NFL player Phillip Adams

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 09:56 AM PDT

Robert Shook died from injuries after shooting last week
Phillip Adams, 32, killed himself after murders

A sixth person has died after being shot by a former NFL player at a South Carolina home last Wednesday.

Robert Shook, a 38-year-old air conditioning technician, was shot in the driveway of the Rock Hill, South Carolina, home where he had been working, the York county sheriff said. He died from his wounds on Saturday.

Lacazette doubles up in Arsenal’s comfortable win at Sheffield United

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 01:06 PM PDT

This was never going to be the night that will define Arsenal's season and the level of pressure Mikel Arteta will face in the months ahead: that comes in five days' time in Prague. But with that in mind, a performance and a result to set up a match that will dictate whether the club's best avenue into Europe next season remains open was certainly welcome for Arteta.

Winning breeds confidence, as Arteta pointed out post-match, so the nature of this victory, which moved Arsenal back into the top half, was perhaps all he could have asked for as they prepare for their return with Slavia Prague on Thursday. A clean sheet, the continuation of Alexandre Lacazette's fine recent form, and a confidence-boosting display all across the field, with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka impressing.

Remembering the Brixton riots 40 years on – podcast

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 07:00 PM PDT

In April 1981, a simmering tension between the police and Brixton's black community erupted in violence. Forty years, on Aamna Modhin revisits that weekend with those who witnessed the events unfolding

On the Saturday night petrol bombs began flying through the air. Rumours had spread around Brixton, in south London, of police mistreatment of a local black man. Soon it was a full-scale riot and by the time it was over almost 300 police officers and 60 civilians had been injured in the unrest that ensued.

The Guardian's community affairs correspondent, Aamna Modhin, tells Anushka Asthana that for many who were there these were not riots but an uprising. Among those Modhin spoke to were Ros Griffiths and Alex Wheatle, who were teenagers living in Brixton at the time.

No man’s land: in crowning Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell, Bafta has triumphed

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 01:18 PM PDT

An immaculate set of choices this year were capped by best film for Nomadland and best British film for Promising Young Woman – with Anthony Hopkins' honour the cherry on top

This year's Bafta list has confirmed the amazingly meteoric career ascendancy of Chloé Zhao, the Chinese-born film-maker whose debut movie was just six years ago and who was unknown outside arthouse-connoisseur circles until relatively recently; she now is set to rule awards season with a remarkable film displaying her now fully developed authorial signature.

Saturday Night Live: Carey Mulligan and Kid Cudi address show’s highs and lows

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 06:20 AM PDT

The actor known for serious roles struggled to raise laughs while the rapper pushed his art in sensitive directions

Ever since the news kicked into high gear somewhere around November 2016, Saturday Night Live has struggled to address it all within the designated political talkback of the cold open sketch. Instead of picking one story and really digging in, the writers have chosen to contrive a situation broad enough to work in three or four major topics.

This week, we open on a nightly news program in Minnesota. Two white anchors (Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat) struggle to get on the same page as their Black colleagues (Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd popping in as a weatherman on probation) while reporting the trial of Derek Chauvin, the deaths of DMX and Prince Philip, the Matt Gaetz sex scandal and Paul Pierce's dismissal from ESPN. The read on the stories varies across the racial divide.

Garrett Bradley: ‘I was wearing sweatpants for one award ceremony and no one knew’

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 06:00 AM PDT

The US director – whose documentary Time, about a family torn apart by prison, is up for an Oscar – on why virtual ceremonies are like video games

Glenda Jackson: 'Awards should be something you share… the camaraderie was absent'

The American film-maker Garrett Bradley premiered her first nonfiction feature, Time, at the Sundance film festival last year, where she became the first black woman to win the directing award. The documentary, about a mother campaigning for her husband's release from prison, has since received multiple accolades.

Before Garrett Bradley premiered her documentary Time, which has received a slew of nominations over the past 14 months including for the Oscar for best documentary, she didn't have much experience with awards ceremonies. She went to the Gotham awards in 2014 with her debut feature, Below Dreams, but she didn't win that night. Even so, the event was "beautiful", she recalls. "There were lots of tables with gorgeous flowers and all different types of silverware, and people I was used to seeing in magazines."

Hear me out: why Gentlemen Broncos isn’t a bad movie

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 10:31 PM PDT

Continuing our series of writers defending loathed films is an argument to rewatch Jared Hess's inventive post-Napoleon Dynamite comedy

Any heat generated by Jared Hess's oddball debut Napoleon Dynamite had cooled by the time his third film, Gentlemen Broncos, was dumped on to a handful of screens by its neglectful distributor, Fox Searchlight, in 2009. It made just over $118,000 (a fraction of that from a three-day UK run in 2010). Time Out magazine labelled it "unsavoury", the New York Times a "misfire". Others were less kind.

Janet Jackson to sell personal treasures in celebrity auction

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 02:15 AM PDT

Jewellery, a wedding dress and tour outfits are among memorabilia up for grabs after the superstar decided on a cathartic clearout

Intent on making sure her birthday weekend will be one to remember for fans across the world, Janet Jackson has finally agreed to auction more than 1,000 pieces from a career spanning four decades.

The star, who has sold over 185 million records and remains the only female artist in history to score seven top-five singles from one album, has partnered with celebrity auctioneer Julien's to host the three-day sale in Beverly Hills from 14 May.

Andra Day: ‘I want to be sexy and pow in an awards outfit’

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 02:00 AM PDT

Playing Billie Holiday was a daunting task for the first-time actor and now Oscar nominee, but she's having a blast at the virtual award ceremonies

Jamie Demetriou: 'When I won the awards, I almost felt sheepish to have good news'

US singer-songwriter Andra Day plays the titular lead in The United States vs Billie Holiday. Her acclaimed performance as Holiday, her first movie role, has earned her multiple accolades including a Golden Globe for best actress and an Oscar nomination.

As the Golden Globe for best actress in the drama category was being announced on 28 February, Andra Day was sitting in a hotel room in West Hollywood with her hands clasped prayerfully under her chin. In normal times, she would only have been allowed a single guest at the awards ceremony, but on this occasion the 36-year-old, who plays the lead in The United States vs Billie Holiday, was joined by family and friends, co-stars from the film and members of her publicity team.

Four Hundred Souls, edited by Ibram X Kendi and Keisha N Blain review – a resounding history of African America

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 03:00 AM PDT

In this rich anthology spanning 1619-2019, no fewer than 90 writers, historians, lawyers and activists challenge the myths of America's past

Slavery is fundamental to the story of the US, argues the 1619 Project (an initiative from the New York Times Magazine to reframe the country's history by placing at its centre the contributions of African Americans), illuminating a legacy that has incensed conservatives. During the Black Lives Matter protests last year, President Trump weighed in on what he called a discredited attempt to "rewrite American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom".

The truth, as asserted by Ibram X Kendi, the co-editor of Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America 1619-2019, is that the US is a paradox, founded on both freedom and slavery. In recent years, Kendi, an admired public intellectual, has emerged as an able navigator of race relations. Here, along with the academic Keisha N Blain, he has assembled 90 writers in an anthology that further challenges the myths of America's past.

Glenda Jackson: ‘Awards should be something you share… the camaraderie was absent’

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 04:00 AM PDT

Her performance in Elizabeth Is Missing won the veteran actress a Bafta and an Emmy – and she hasn't missed dressing up for the virtual ceremonies

Andra Day: 'I didn't want to be a stain on Billie Holiday's legacy'

The British actor and former MP returned to the screen in 2019 after a 27-year break for the BBC One drama Elizabeth Is Missing. Her portrayal of Maud, a woman living with dementia, last year won her a Bafta TV award and an International Emmy for best actress.

Glenda Jackson is something of an awards ceremony veteran. Throughout her career, she has amassed an enviable range of statuettes: two best actress Academy Awards (one for Ken Russell's notorious Women in Love, the other for A Touch of Class), a Golden Globe, several Emmys, Baftas and a Tony, among others. At one Oscars ceremony, she was introduced on to the stage by Frank Sinatra. But that, she says, was in the early days, "years before they became what they are now. Which are mainly fashion shows, aren't they?"

Amazon rejects claims it intimidated Alabama workers during union vote

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 08:38 AM PDT

Union leaders allege 'egregious and blatantly illegal' conduct
Vote not to unionize seen as a blow to US labor movement

Amazon has rejected claims it intimidated workers voting on whether to create the company's first union at an Alabama warehouse.

‘Dumb son of a bitch’: Trump attacks McConnell in Republican donors speech

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 09:31 AM PDT

At Mar-a-Lago, former president also goes after Fauci and Chao … and claims party 'can't have these guys that like publicity'

What's Trump up to? I tried to find out via Instagram

Donald Trump devoted part of a speech to Republican donors on Saturday night to insulting the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. According to multiple reports of the $400,000-a-ticket, closed-press event, the former president called the Kentucky senator "a dumb son of a bitch".

Whitmer won’t go ‘punch for punch’ with Republican who called her a witch

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT

Governor and others 'ready for burning at stake', GOP chair said
Democrat laments 'layer of misogyny' towards female leaders

Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, will not "go punch for punch" with Republican leaders in the state who have attacked her in misogynistic terms, one going so far as to call Whitmer and two other leading Democrats "three witches" set to be "burned at the stake".

Secretary of state Blinken hits out at China over Taiwan and Covid

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 12:17 PM PDT

Antony Blinken: China aggression would be 'serious mistake'
China's failure to provide experts access made pandemic worse
Opinion: China v Russia v America – has Orwell's 1984 arrived?

Joe Biden's secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Sunday the US is concerned about China's aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a "serious mistake" for anyone to try to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force.

Mike Lindell says he hired investigators to find out why Fox News won’t book him

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 07:15 AM PDT

My Pillow founder accuses network of conspiracy against him
'Dumb son of a bitch': Trump attacks McConnell

Mike Lindell, the formerly ubiquitous purveyor of both Donald Trump's election lies and his own range of My Pillow bedding accoutrements, says he has hired private investigators to find out why he appears to have fallen out of favor with Fox News.

Arkansas governor who vetoed anti-trans law defends other anti-trans bills

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 08:00 AM PDT

State legislature overturned Asa Hutchinson's block on law banning gender-confirming treatment for young people

'Dumb son of a bitch': Trump attacks McConnell

Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas, has defended his decision to veto a state law banning gender-confirming treatments for transgender youth – a veto the state legislature immediately overturned.

Ramsey Clark, attorney general who represented Saddam Hussein, dies at 93

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 05:21 AM PDT

Second-youngest AG championed civil rights movement
Attorney came to criticise US policy and represented foes

Ramsey Clark, who was attorney general in the Johnson administration before becoming an outspoken activist for unpopular causes and a harsh critic of US policy, has died. He was 93.

National debt: critics cry hypocrisy as Republicans oppose Biden spending

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 02:00 AM PDT

The GOP says the $2tn infrastructure plan is too big. Democrats say Trump cut taxes and 'spent like a drunken sailor'

The response was as uniform as it was predictable.

Florida woman who claimed to be Harry Potter killed judge in hit-and-run, officials say

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 08:26 AM PDT

Nastasia Snape, 23, charged with vehicular homicide
Six-year-old boy also hit and seriously injured

A Florida woman fatally struck a federal judge from New York and seriously injured a six-year-old boy when she swerved her car on to a sidewalk, officials said. Police said the woman said she believed she was Harry Potter. They also said they found a powerful synthetic drug in her bag.

Nastasia Snape, 23, was charged with vehicular homicide and other felonies for the crash that killed Sandra Feuerstein, 75, a district judge in the eastern district of New York since 2003, on Friday. The boy, Anthony Ovchinnikov, was taken to hospital. His condition could not be determined.

Despair fuels the flames of young loyalist anger in Northern Ireland

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 01:30 AM PDT

Let down by politicians and police, cultural symbols belittled ... unionist teenagers feel marginalised and are taking action

For the schoolboy commander who stood on the grassy hill and gave his name only as Bob, the intricacies and compromises of politics, policing, Brexit and the Northern Ireland protocol could all be boiled down to this: his side was losing, and that had to stop.

His side were the Protestants, unionists and loyalists, bulwarks of Britishness on the island of Ireland, and they needed to assert themselves, starting with the traffic roundabout at the bottom of O'Neill Road in Newtownabbey, outside Belfast.

Ukrainian soldier reportedly killed in artillery fire from Russia-backed troops

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 08:56 AM PDT

Attacks have intensified in recent weeks as Kremlin assembles troops along border

The Ukrainian military said a soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in artillery fire from Russia-backed separatist rebels, as hostilities rose sharply in the east of the country.

As of the reported attack on Sunday, Ukraine says 27 soldiers have been killed in the east this year, more than half the number who died in all of 2020. Attacks have intensified in recent weeks and Russia has built up troops along the Ukraine border.

Meningitis epidemics could be forewarned by weather forecasts in sub-Saharan Africa

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 10:00 PM PDT

A pilot is under way to harness forecasts to predict where conditions that fuel cases are likely to develop

A weather-based surveillance system that could offer advanced warning of outbreaks of meningitis is being piloted across sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to save lives, researchers have revealed.

According to the Meningitis Research Foundation, meningitis affects about 5 million people around the world each year, one in 10 of whom die, while two in 10 are left with lasting impacts, such as brain damage.

Early findings show new drug could be ‘gamechanging’ for brain cancer treatment

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 05:57 AM PDT

Using ipatasertib, researchers say some brain cancers could potentially be made vulnerable to immunotherapy agent

Two people with advanced brain cancer of the sort that led to the death of the MP Tessa Jowell have responded well in a small trial to an experimental combination of chemo and immunotherapy drugs. In one case, the life-threatening tumour seems to have disappeared.

Doctors at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden hospital in London cautioned that this was very early research but said it was unusual to have such a good response in patients in an early trial.

UK business confidence jumps as non-essential shops, pubs and restaurants reopen – business live

Posted: 12 Apr 2021 12:18 AM PDT

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Introduction: Restrictions on English retailers and hospitality relaxed
Non-essential shops reopen in England and Wales after almost four-month lockdown
Pubs and restaurants can serve customers outdoors
Business confidence at record highs...
..but small firms still fear job cuts

8.18am BST

Hairdressers and beauty salons in England can also open up again today - a relief to millions in need of a trim, recolouring or other treatments.

"I know that our therapists are just so happy to be working with clients again.

"Everyone has really missed the social contact of the day-to-day job and making clients happy. We haven't been able to do that for the best part of five-to-six months."

"We realised we had quite a few regular clients who we weren't able to book in on the first day back, so we thought 'why don't we open the first moment we can?'

"And then we're filling a lot of people in at dawn - a lot of 6am haircuts. Which is amazing, because people are going to have their hair cut and blowdried and then they can get on a Zoom call.

"(The haircut) feels amazing, I can't stop touching it.

"(It's been) about seven or eight months, since my last one, so I had some very split ends. I'm very impatient, so I didn't want to wait. (I booked it) as soon as they could fit me in."

8.00am BST

My colleague Sarah Butler has braced the cold and snow on London's Oxford Street as retailers reopen their doors.

She reports that there's quite a queue outside the JD Sports store this morning, as shoppers flock to buy its sportswear clothes and trainers.

Almost a scrum outside JD on Oxford St as you people queue for over an hour to get sought after trainers to trade online.. pic.twitter.com/bi3CeKWB5a

By far the busiest spot on a snowy(!) Oxford St as non essential shops reopen pic.twitter.com/9rXw2pPkSc

Police warn of ‘all-out war’ as tribal violence in Papua New Guinea kills 19

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 08:38 PM PDT

High-powered weapons, as well as a hand grenade, were used in fighting near Kainantu Town in Eastern Highlands province

Police are warning a "all-out war" could erupt in Eastern Highlands province in Papua New Guinea, after 19 people were killed in tribal violence late last week.

High-powered weapons, as well as a hand grenade, were used in fighting on Thursday and Friday near Kainantu Town in the east of the country, causing 19 deaths, with many more people unaccounted for, and properties destroyed.

Brazil’s meat plant workers at risk from ‘inconceivable’ plan to cut break times

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 11:00 PM PDT

As exports boom, the industry is backing plans to restrict rest periods for those doing hazardous work in low temperatures

The health of hundreds of thousands of meat plant workers in Brazil is at risk from an industry-backed plan to reduce breaks given to employees, say workers' rights groups in the country.

In the midst of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 350,000 Brazilians, President Jair Bolsonaro's government, parliament and the meat industry have been pushing for a move to review the laws and regulations protecting workers at slaughter plants.

‘They’re old but they’re still guilty’: last Nazi hunter in a race against time

Posted: 10 Apr 2021 11:30 PM PDT

Efraim Zuroff watched the Adolf Eichmann trial on TV 60 years ago. It was the beginning of his long quest for justice

He describes himself as "the only Jew who prays for the good health of Nazis". As the last Nazi hunter tracking down the last surviving Nazis from the Holocaust, Efraim Zuroff is in a race against time.

Those who took part in the systematic murder of six million Jews in Europe are now over the age of 90, and almost all are frail or sick. Zuroff himself is 72 – born three years after the end of the war – and has been hunting former Nazis for more than 40 years. He is as committed to the task as ever.

David Cameron breaks 30-day silence over lobbying for Greensill

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 10:46 AM PDT

Ex-PM says he acted within rules but admits there are 'important lessons' to be learned

Timeline: David Cameron and Greensill Capital

David Cameron has broken his 30-day silence over lobbying ministers on behalf of the scandal-hit company Greensill Capital, accepting he should have acted differently and used only "the most formal channels".

Cameron, who was first contacted by the Financial Times in early March, said he had reflected on his conduct and that "important lessons" would be learned. The first formal request for comment was submitted to his office on 12 March and Cameron had since ignored all requests from national media.

‘Prince Philip’s death is the end of an era. What is the future for the royals?’

Posted: 10 Apr 2021 10:45 PM PDT

Sadness, reflection, ambivalence: on the streets of London people react to the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh

Beneath the cranes of the forever developing Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, people responded to Prince Philip's death with a mixture of emotions.

Some apologised for their ambivalence, others eventually admitted that they did, in fact, feel a little sad.

‘No community should suffer this’: Florida’s toxic breach was decades in the making

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 03:00 AM PDT

A leak at an abandoned fertilizer plant is just the latest development at a site that has polluted the area since it was built

It's been a week since a significant leak at a long-abandoned fertilizer plant in the Tampa Bay area threatened the surrounding groundwater, soil, and local water supplies.

Last weekend, officials ordered more than 300 families living near the 676-acre Piney Point plant site in Manatee county to evacuate. The sheriff even emptied out his jail's first floor of inmates in case a "20-foot wall of water" came rolling their way.

Choreographing Mozart and Kumbh Mela: the weekend’s best photos

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 08:27 AM PDT

The Guardian's picture editors bring you the best in news photography from around the world