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- US accuses Russia of conspiring to take over Ukraine government
- Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell singer dead at 74
- Mitch McConnell’s viral Black voter comments cause widespread furor
- Michael Flynn allies allegedly plotted to lean on Republicans to back vote audits
- Nestle withdraws Hindu KitKat range in India over accusations of disrespect
- Blizzard claims four lives including infant near US-Canada border
- ‘Havana syndrome’ unlikely caused by hostile foreign power, CIA says
- Dozens feared dead after immense explosion rocks western Ghana
- Tesla’s expansion in Xinjiang ‘sets a poor example’, say US lawmakers
- Elza Soares, one of Brazil’s greatest ever singers, dies at 91
- Hongkongers launch hamster rescue mission after Covid cull declared
- Unruly, maskless passenger forces London-bound flight to return to Miami
- ‘The Greens want to take our meat away’: Europeans go to war over their dinner
- Guatemala’s economy buoyed by record $15bn sent home from workers overseas
- ‘I was just really scared’: Apple AirTags lead to stalking complaints
- After Democrats’ historic defeat on voting rights, what happens next?
- ‘They cut him into pieces’: India love jihad conspiracy theory turns lethal
- ‘I was so close to the sky. It was spiritual’: Sonny Rollins on jazz landmark The Bridge at 60
- You be the judge: should my brother give me better birthday presents?
- America has a manure problem, and the miracle solution being touted isn’t all that it seems
- What happens when your star is cancelled but you can’t cancel the film?
- Covid news live: Africa sees cases ‘drop significantly’; experts say Australia’s Omicron wave ‘likely’ peaked
- Clothing brand Carhartt in conservative crosshairs for issuing vaccine directive
- Tonga turns back aid flight from Australia after positive Covid case discovered
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- Female leadership is good for the world. Just look at Barbados
- The three lessons for the voting rights struggle from the latest Senate setback | Steve Phillips
- Republican voter suppression is rampant. Manchin and Sinema are complicit now | Moira Donegan
- Keynes warned the world against using economic sanctions. His alternative is worth considering | Nicholas Mulder
- This year I’m becoming a full-on bimbo – it’s better to be stupid and hot | Lucinda Price
- After Biden’s first year, the US economy is surprisingly healthy. His prospects are not
- It’s not just Johnson: the whole culture that cheered him on needs booting out | Aditya Chakrabortty
- Diogo Jota double sinks Arsenal and sends Liverpool into Carabao Cup final
- Rise of the machines: Robot umpires moving up to Triple-A baseball for 2022
- Nets’ Kyrie Irving hit with $25,000 fine for cursing at heckler in Cleveland
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- Africa Cup of Nations: Pépé caps Ivory Coast win to send dismal Algeria home
- Hidden cameras found in locker room of top German women’s handball team
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- ‘Like a work of art’: rare stretch of pristine coral reef discovered off Tahiti
- ‘The treeline is out of control’: how the climate crisis is turning the Arctic green
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- Winter of peril and impossibility: Biden faces hard truth at anniversary press conference
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- Trump held secret meetings in days before Capitol attack, ex-press secretary tells panel
- Democrats fail to advance voting rights law as Senate holdouts defend filibuster
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- From student law to Steinem: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s library up for auction
- Emirates to resume Boeing 777 flights to US after 5G go-ahead
- UK’s Liz Truss warns Russia of ‘terrible quagmire’ if it invades Ukraine
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- Tales from the crypto: lira crisis fuels Bitcoin boom in Turkey
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- Taliban launch raids on homes of Afghan women’s rights activists
- ‘Stuck in perilous moment’: Doomsday Clock holds at 100 seconds to midnight
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- ‘Why? Is there a resemblance?’ Tarantula-killing worm named for actor Jeff Daniels
- ‘I have a responsibility to speak about it’: a wrongfully imprisoned artist making art from his ordeal
- Peru seeks compensation after oil spill devastates marine life – video
- ‘What are the Republicans for?': Joe Biden says Trump 'intimidating' entire party – video
- Tonga: new footage shows aftermath of volcano eruption and tsunami – video
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| US accuses Russia of conspiring to take over Ukraine government Posted: 20 Jan 2022 10:03 AM PST Treasury imposes sanctions on four current and former Ukraine government officials it says involved in alleged conspiracy The US has alleged that Russian intelligence is recruiting current and former Ukrainian government officials to take over the government in Kyiv and cooperate with a Russian occupying force. The US Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Ukrainian members of parliament and two former officials it said were involved in the alleged conspiracy, which involved discrediting the current government of the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Continue reading... |
| Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell singer dead at 74 Posted: 21 Jan 2022 12:08 AM PST The musician died at home with his family by his side, his agent confirmed The US singer and actor Meat Loaf has died aged 74, his agent has confirmed. No cause of death was shared. Born Marvin Lee Aday and later legally known as Michael, the musician died on 20 January with his wife Deborah Gillespie by his side. Continue reading... |
| Mitch McConnell’s viral Black voter comments cause widespread furor Posted: 20 Jan 2022 02:05 PM PST Republican Senate minority leader's comments came after party members blocked voting rights bill and changes to filibuster rule Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has sparked widespread outrage by appearing to refer to African Americans and Americans as two separate groups in comments about Black voters that have since gone viral. The Kentucky Republican was speaking after Republican senators once again blocked Democrats' voting rights legislation on Capitol Hill on Wednesday evening. Continue reading... |
| Michael Flynn allies allegedly plotted to lean on Republicans to back vote audits Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST Ex-whistleblower says group enlisted his help to seek potentially damaging information on two members of Congress to prod them to back audits in key states Trump lost FBI agents and the House panel investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol have both learned of an alleged plan by allies of retired army Lt Gen Michael Flynn to gather "intelligence" on top Republicans to "move" them to back election audits in key states Trump lost, said ex-whistleblower Everett Stern who talked to the panel and the FBI. Stern, who runs the intelligence firm Tactical Rabbit and is a Republican vying for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania, in multiple interviews with the Guardian said two Flynn associates with the rightwing Patriot Caucus group enlisted his help in April in a scheme to seek potentially damaging information on two Republican members of Congress to prod them to back an audit of the 2020 vote that Joe Biden won. Continue reading... |
| Nestle withdraws Hindu KitKat range in India over accusations of disrespect Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:01 PM PST Many people expressed outrage that wrappers, featuring Hindu gods, could be thrown in bins or trodden on Nestle has withdrawn a special range of KitKats in India which featured images of sacred Hindu deities on the wrapper, after accusations of hurting religious sentiments. The limited range of the well-known chocolate bar had been launched as part of the global "KitKat travel breaks" range, where photos of artwork by local artisans were printed on the wrappers. Continue reading... |
| Blizzard claims four lives including infant near US-Canada border Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:12 PM PST Authorities believe deaths occurred from exposure as group tried to cross into US Four people, including an infant, have been found dead near the Canada-United States border, after a failed crossing attempt during brutal blizzard conditions. The grim discovery came as officials south of the border announced the arrest of a US man on human smuggling charges. Continue reading... |
| ‘Havana syndrome’ unlikely caused by hostile foreign power, CIA says Posted: 20 Jan 2022 07:17 AM PST Investigation finds majority of cases probably linked to pre-existing medical conditions, environmental factors or stress An initial CIA investigation into the mysterious set of symptoms known as Havana syndrome has found that it is unlikely to be the result of a worldwide campaign of attacks by a foreign power against US diplomats and spies. However, two dozen cases, including some of those originally afflicted in Havana in 2016, could not be explained and would be further studied for evidence of a possible attack, according to a senior CIA official who briefed the US press. Continue reading... |
| Dozens feared dead after immense explosion rocks western Ghana Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:52 PM PST The blast, which flattened hundreds of buildings and killed at least 17 people, was the result of a mining explosive vehicle colliding with a motorcycle Dozens of people are feared dead after a truck carrying mining explosives collided with a motorcycle in western Ghana, sparking an explosion that has left hundreds of buildings destroyed. The accident happened around noon in Apiate, near the mining city of Bogoso, 300km (180 miles) west of the West African country's capital, Accra. Continue reading... |
| Tesla’s expansion in Xinjiang ‘sets a poor example’, say US lawmakers Posted: 20 Jan 2022 06:54 PM PST Elon Musk last month announced opening of new showroom in region at heart of China's years-long campaign of repression against Uyghur people The chairmen of two congressional panels on oversight and trade have assailed Tesla's expansion in China's far-western Xinjiang region, where mass internment camps have drawn heavy criticism, and asked the electric carmaker about its Chinese product sourcing. "Your misguided expansion into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region sets a poor example and further empowers the CCP [Chinese government] at a fraught moment," Democrats Bill Pascrell and Earl Blumenauer, who head two House of Representatives ways and means subcommittees, wrote in a joint letter to Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. Continue reading... |
| Elza Soares, one of Brazil’s greatest ever singers, dies at 91 Posted: 20 Jan 2022 02:39 PM PST Loss of much-loved samba star prompts outpouring of tributes and praise as six-decade career ends Elza Soares, one of the greatest Brazilian singers of all time, has died at her beachside home in Rio after a legendary, genre-straddling six-decade career which made her a national treasure and a global star. "The beloved and eternal Elza has gone to rest but she will forever remain in musical history and in our hearts and those of thousands of fans all around the world. Just as Elza Soares had wished, she sung until the end," her family and team announced in a statement on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading... |
| Hongkongers launch hamster rescue mission after Covid cull declared Posted: 21 Jan 2022 12:38 AM PST Thousands sign petitions and many offer to house pets, as officials say more than 2,000 imported hamsters must be killed Authorities and pet lovers in Hong Kong are locked in a game of cat and mouse, with citizens mounting a clandestine rescue operation for hamsters condemned to be euthanised over fears they could transmit Covid-19. On Tuesday, government and health officials announced traces of the virus had been found on 11 hamsters, all in a pet shop where a 23-year-old staff member had fallen ill. They decided more than 2,000 of the imported animals, including any pets bought since 22 December, must be killed, and "strongly recommended" owners surrender their pets. Continue reading... |
| Unruly, maskless passenger forces London-bound flight to return to Miami Posted: 20 Jan 2022 06:42 PM PST About 500 miles into the journey, the flight had to turn back as the customer refused to comply with the federal mask mandate For airline staff, navigating the pandemic has meant grappling with a surge in bad behavior, ranging from temper tantrums to punching flight attendants in the face. In the latest incident, 129 passengers paid a remarkable price: a maskless "disruptive customer" forced American Airlines' flight AAL38 flying from Miami to London to turn around and go back, the New York Times reported. The reversal occurred off the North Carolina coast, after the flight had traveled about 500 miles. Continue reading... |
| ‘The Greens want to take our meat away’: Europeans go to war over their dinner Posted: 21 Jan 2022 12:00 AM PST With meat consumption twice the global average, citizens of EU27 have to reconcile environmental concerns and culinary traditions A row over meat consumption in Spain over the last month is just the most recent eruption of the debate all over Europe, as the continent grapples with making its famous cuisines more sustainable. Food is inextricably intertwined with national identity for countries in continental Europe; a good steak, with perfect frites stacked beside it; a plate of wafer thin carpaccio, drizzled with dressing or plain old olive oil; wurst, served with good mustard; jamón ibérico laced with creamy white fat. Continue reading... |
| Guatemala’s economy buoyed by record $15bn sent home from workers overseas Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:15 PM PST Critics accuse the country's government of doing nothing to stop the 'escape valve' of migration as it covers up their lack of spending The amount of money Guatemalans living abroad send home to their families reached record levels in 2021. Remittances rose to more than $15bn (£11bn) in 2021, an increase of 35% on the previous year. The unprecedented rise prompted experts to question the political will to tackle the migration crisis when remittances from the US contribute so much to the Guatemalan economy. Continue reading... |
| ‘I was just really scared’: Apple AirTags lead to stalking complaints Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:52 AM PST Police across the US have received reports of devices intended to help locate lost items being used for nefarious purposes In early January, Brooks Nader, a 26-year-old Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, was walking home alone from a night out in New York when she received a disturbing iPhone notification telling her she was carrying an "unknown accessory". "This item has been moving with you for a while," the alert read. "The owner can see its location." Continue reading... |
| After Democrats’ historic defeat on voting rights, what happens next? Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST In an extremely bruising loss for Biden, Republicans used the filibuster to block the sweeping bill from passing For a little over a year, America has faced a democratic crisis unlike any it has seen in recent history. As Republicans have spread lies about the 2020 presidential election, confidence in it remains staggeringly low and about 1 in 3 Americans now believe Joe Biden was not legitimately elected. Republicans who claim the election was stolen are trying to grab key election administration roles, prompting unprecedented alarm that a future election could be overturned. Continue reading... |
| ‘They cut him into pieces’: India love jihad conspiracy theory turns lethal Posted: 20 Jan 2022 09:00 PM PST Hindu extremists are carrying out violent attacks to stop interfaith relationships with Muslims It was dark and pelting down with rain as Sameer Parishwadi ran along the railway tracks. Up ahead, as torches darted across the tracks, they shone on to a pair of feet. A few metres away, sliced clean from the body, was a head, one that he recognised. It was Arbaaz Aftab Mullah, his cousin and best friend from childhood. Continue reading... |
| ‘I was so close to the sky. It was spiritual’: Sonny Rollins on jazz landmark The Bridge at 60 Posted: 20 Jan 2022 10:00 PM PST It's one of the most romantic stories in music: the jazz star rejecting fame to practise on a New York bridge for two years. Now 91, Rollins recalls those long cold days – and how he has coped after losing the power to play If you happened to be gazing idly from a window of New York City's J train crossing the East River on the Williamsburg Bridge, most days between the summer of 1959 and the autumn of 1961, you might have glimpsed a lone saxophonist huddled into a cranny of the gigantic steel skeleton. Travellers on the footway might have got close to the sound of him, too: an astonishing tumult of fast tumbling runs seeming to echo the chatter of the wheels on the subway tracks, honking low-tone exclamations exchanged with the hoots of the riverboats, snatches of blues, pop hits, classical motifs, calypsos. Few witnesses to those torrential monologues will have shrugged him off as just another busker; this was an intuitive master of his instrument who, for some reason, had chosen to tell this multitude of stories to the sky instead of a rapt roomful of fans. Continue reading... |
| You be the judge: should my brother give me better birthday presents? Posted: 21 Jan 2022 12:00 AM PST We air both sides of a domestic disagreement – and ask you to deliver a verdict • If you have a disagreement you'd like settled, or want to be part of our jury, click here My brother is really tight with spending on birthdays, and refuses to make an effort Continue reading... |
| America has a manure problem, and the miracle solution being touted isn’t all that it seems Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST Converting waste into 'biogas' is a crucial part of Biden's climate plan – but it can come with some significant costs It's hard to talk about meat, dairy or egg farming without talking about poop. Manure plays a big role on American factory farms, and if not properly managed it can quickly turn into a big problem. Each year in the US livestock animals produce between 1.27 and 1.37bn tons of waste – or somewhere between three and 20 times more manure than people produce in the US. Continue reading... |
| What happens when your star is cancelled but you can’t cancel the film? Posted: 20 Jan 2022 06:43 AM PST Scandals affecting Armie Hammer, Kevin Spacey and Johnny Depp have all hit their movies. We look at how film companies cope when leading players' box-office stock crashes Does Armie Hammer ever yearn for the time when the worst thing people said was that nobody liked him? "Ten Long Years of Trying to Make Armie Hammer Happen" was the cruel but incisive headline of a 5,000-word BuzzFeed article from 2017 which concluded that only a wealthy white man could not merely have withstood so much failure but have been rewarded for it. The US actor tweeted about the piece, calling it "bitter AF" before making a celeb's exit from the social media platform: he deleted his account then quietly reactivated it. Those must seem now like halcyon days. Hammer's fall began a year ago when messages surfaced online, purportedly sent from him to various extramarital partners, suggesting an erotic interest in cannibalism. Sexual assault allegations were made by multiple women, while an accusation of rape prompted a Los Angeles police investigation. Hollywood tends to act fast when handling a scandal in the age of social media and #MeToo: Hammer was dropped immediately by his agents, William Morris Endeavor. He exited projects including the Jennifer Lopez romcom Shotgun Wedding, Amma Asante's cold war thriller Billion Dollar Spy and The Offer, a 10-part series about the making of The Godfather. His scenes in Taika Waititi's soccer comedy Next Goal Wins were reshot with Will Arnett taking his place. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 21 Jan 2022 01:53 AM PST Scientists say Australia's hardest-hit states 'probably through the worst'; cases sharply decline in Africa for first time since Omicron, WHO says
China has reported its lowest daily tally of local confirmed Covid-19 cases in nearly two months, after a national strategy to stamp out flare-ups and lock down affected cities. China reported 23 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms for Thursday, official data showed, down from 43 a day earlier. Continue reading... |
| Clothing brand Carhartt in conservative crosshairs for issuing vaccine directive Posted: 20 Jan 2022 02:00 AM PST CEO Mark Valade's decision came under fire after the supreme court blocked the federal vaccine-or-test mandate Carhartt, the Michigan-based workwear company, is facing a wave of conservative backlash after its CEO announced that it will keep its vaccination mandate, despite a recent supreme court decision to block a federal mandate that would require businesses with over 100 employees to get vaccinated or take weekly Covid-19 tests. In an email sent to employees last Friday, Mark Valade said that Covid-19 vaccinations remain mandatory. "We put workplace safety at the very top of our priority list and the supreme court's recent ruling doesn't impact that core value," Valade wrote. Continue reading... |
| Tonga turns back aid flight from Australia after positive Covid case discovered Posted: 20 Jan 2022 10:59 PM PST Morrison government promised Tongans Covid-safe humanitarian relief after volcanic eruption and tsunami Tonga has turned back an aid flight from Australia due to a positive Covid case on board, despite assurances from the Morrison government that humanitarian relief from the volcanic eruption and tsunami could be offered in a Covid-safe way. Tonga is Covid-free and has a strict border control policy, requiring contactless delivery of aid that began arriving by plane on Thursday. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading... |
| Covid-19 map of the US: latest cases state by state Posted: 20 Jan 2022 07:32 AM PST The US emerged as an early hotspot for the coronavirus and it continues to have some of the highest case and death rates in the world. It leads the world in both confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It's important to point out that the actual death toll is believed to be far higher than the tally compiled from government figures. |
| Female leadership is good for the world. Just look at Barbados Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:45 PM PST Mia Mottley is just one of a raft of strong women across the Caribbean and South America tackling society's most pressing issues. The world could learn a lot from them There is a common misconception that the developing world is full of archaic values and that women struggle to have their voices heard. The more countries I visit and the more female leaders I speak to, the more I am convinced the contrary is true. In fact, those in positions of power worldwide could learn important lessons from these strong women when it comes to tackling some of society's most pressing issues, including pandemics, the climate crisis, education and infrastructure. Continue reading... |
| The three lessons for the voting rights struggle from the latest Senate setback | Steve Phillips Posted: 20 Jan 2022 07:27 AM PST This latest defeat is not a fatal blow. The struggle for democracy is ongoing – and our fate has not been decided yet At the conclusion of the 1984 Democratic national convention, Jesse Jackson gathered his supporters and offered important perspective to those of us who had labored long and hard on his presidential campaign, telling us, "We've never gotten freedom at a convention. The convention is a comma, where you pause and go on. We're going to keep fighting for freedom – at the polls, in the courts, in the streets." And then he concluded by invoking the phrase made famous by Malcolm X – "Freedom, by any means necessary." This week's fight in the US Senate over the voting rights bill is a comma in a much, much longer story. It is a story that started in 1619 when Africans were brought in chains to America's shores to do the work that created the wealth that made many white people rich. It is a story encapsulated in the country's 1790 Naturalization Act, one of the nation's very first pieces of legislation, which stated that citizenship is reserved to "free white person[s]" (a law that defined US immigration policy until 1965). It is a story that saw hundreds of thousands of Americans who wanted to be able to continue to buy and sell Black bodies go to war and kill hundreds of thousands of other Americans who sought to end slavery. Continue reading... |
| Republican voter suppression is rampant. Manchin and Sinema are complicit now | Moira Donegan Posted: 20 Jan 2022 06:36 AM PST Manchin and Sinema's intransigence on the filibuster helps the Republican party usher in an era of voter suppression and election subversion The last chance for federal legislation to stem the tide of Republican state-level attacks on the franchise died this week, when Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema rejected a bid by the Senate's Democratic majority to change the filibuster rules to allow the passage of two voting rights bills. The Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act would together serve to establish a baseline of federal rules enabling access to the ballot in all 50 states, and would restore the congressional authority to oversee new election laws in states that have a history of racist voting restrictions – a civil rights-era provision that was gutted by the Republican-controlled supreme court. But the two bills have been blocked repeatedly by Senate Republicans, who have used the chamber's supermajority rule to prevent them from coming to a vote. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading... |
| Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:12 AM PST In 1924, the economist argued that aiding our allies is more effective than sanctioning our foes. That lesson should be heeded today The United States has come to rely on economic sanctions more than ever before. Following its retreat from Kabul in August, Washington has maintained economic pressure on the Taliban. The treasury's freezing of $9.5bn in Afghan state assets has left that impoverished country facing starvation this winter. Two weeks ago, US officials warned Iran, already under heavy economic pressure, that it will face "snapback" sanctions unless Tehran restrains its nuclear ambitions. Most prominent of all is the sanctions threat that the Biden administration issued against Russia last month. In the face of a large Russian military buildup on the borders of Ukraine, Joe Biden announced on 8 December that Vladimir Putin will face "severe consequences, economic consequences like none he's ever seen or ever have been seen" if he escalates into open conflict. Continue reading... |
| This year I’m becoming a full-on bimbo – it’s better to be stupid and hot | Lucinda Price Posted: 19 Jan 2022 09:18 PM PST There's no need to out-think things like the pandemic, we can have 'less thoughts' and 'more vibes' Hey guys. I'm just gonna come out and, like, say it. This year, I'm becoming a full-blown bimbo. I know what you're thinking, lol. You're probably thinking that's a really stupid thing to say. Continue reading... |
| After Biden’s first year, the US economy is surprisingly healthy. His prospects are not Posted: 20 Jan 2022 12:00 AM PST Despite victories from Covid to climate change, the president is hamstrung and the nation as divided as ever At the 12-month mark, the obituaries for the Biden administration are being written. The polls are terrible. Biden's marquee legislation is stalled. In recent weeks, even appeals by the president to the hallowed legacy of civil rights have failed to move the Democratic party's holdouts in the Senate – Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – thus blocking the passage of voting rights legislation. While the president invoked Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Manchin countered with the need to preserve the 232-year tradition of conservative stability in the Senate. Not for nothing, 2022 starts with talk about civil war. It is a depressing picture. It is, however, worth reminding ourselves of where the nation was 12 months ago. As 2021 began, it was an open question whether the United States still had a functioning government. There was no orderly transition. The Trump administration simply gave up on Covid. As we now know, America's senior soldiers were deeply concerned about the nuclear command chain. Then on 6 January there was the riot in the Capitol – now a morbid obsession of the Democrats – and the news from Georgia of the double Democrat win in the Senate runoff. It is on that thin basis that the Biden administration has since attempted to govern. Continue reading... |
| It’s not just Johnson: the whole culture that cheered him on needs booting out | Aditya Chakrabortty Posted: 19 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST I was mourning my mother as Downing St partied. But even I can't blame this morally bankrupt prime minister alone On the last Sunday before the 2019 general election, the Sunday Times cast its vote. "Mr Johnson is regarded with some suspicion by voters," its editorial admitted. "He has an on-off relationship with the truth," often preferred "bluster to grasp of detail", and had a "colourful private life more typical of a French president". Nonetheless, the paper urged its readers to put a liar, a bullshitter and a renowned moral incontinent in charge of the country. In making this argument, it was joined by the vast majority of national newspapers, and by the end of that week they got their wish. Over the past few days, those very same papers have discovered that a liar, a bullshitter and a moral incontinent runs the government. They are, naturally, horrified. Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist Continue reading... |
| Diogo Jota double sinks Arsenal and sends Liverpool into Carabao Cup final Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:53 PM PST Now you see him, now you don't. Liverpool surged into the final of the Carabao Cup on a chilly evening in north London, and will face Chelsea at Wembley at the end of February. By then they will almost certainly have Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané to call on again, and so Diogo Jota will simply be able to retreat once more into the background, which is how you suspect he likes it. Jota is the sort of player you tend not to notice until the critical moment, which is exactly how he managed to hurt Arsenal here. Jota popped up with an early goal to settle Liverpool's nerves and a second late on to settle them again, both expertly assisted by the scintillating Trent Alexander-Arnold. In between, however, the second leg of this semi-final was fiercely and evenly contested, as Arsenal threw everything at their last chance of a trophy in 2022 and Jürgen Klopp's side mustered all their street-fighting experience to hold them at bay. Continue reading... |
| Rise of the machines: Robot umpires moving up to Triple-A baseball for 2022 Posted: 20 Jan 2022 02:45 PM PST
Robot umpires have been given a promotion and will be just one step from the major leagues this season. Major League Baseball is expanding its automated strike zone experiment to Triple-A, the highest level of the minor leagues. Continue reading... |
| Nets’ Kyrie Irving hit with $25,000 fine for cursing at heckler in Cleveland Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:33 AM PST
Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving was fined $25,000 by the NBA for cursing at a fan in Cleveland, the league announced on Thursday. Irving's comments to the fan during the second quarter of Brooklyn's 114-107 loss on Monday were captured on video. Irving used profanity in reminding the fan that he helped the Cavaliers win the NBA championship in 2016. Continue reading... |
| Deebo Samuel: the walking first down who has broken the idea of NFL positions Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:00 AM PST This season, the San Francisco 49ers' opponents have come up against a player who can run the ball with brute strength and catch it with ballet-like grace Every once in a while a player comes along who redefines their position. We've seen positionless defensive players, hybrid safety-linebacker types. We've seen corners who can play in the slot or happily kick out to the boundary. Over the past decade, we've seen the rise of the polar bears, tight ends as adept at mauling fools in the run-game as they are running down the field as their team's finest receiver. Continue reading... |
| Raducanu ‘proud’ despite defeat while Murray admits loss ‘not good enough’ Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:18 AM PST
Emma Raducanu said she was proud of the fight she demonstrated in her second-round match at the Australian Open on Thursday after she was defeated by Montenegro's Danka Kovinic in three tight sets despite suffering badly from blisters. On a day of disappointment for Britain at Melbourne Park, Andy Murray bowed out with a straight sets defeat to the qualifier Taro Daniel shortly before Raducanu was eliminated. Continue reading... |
| Africa Cup of Nations: Pépé caps Ivory Coast win to send dismal Algeria home Posted: 20 Jan 2022 10:36 AM PST
Ivory Coast thumped Algeria 3-1 to send the defending champions crashing out of the Africa Cup of Nations finals following a disastrous Group E campaign. Nicolas Pépé's fine solo goal early in the second half put the game out of sight, the Arsenal winger advancing into the penalty area and curling the ball into the far corner with his left foot. The Elephants led 2-0 at half-time thanks to Franck Kessié's opener and an Ibrahim Sangaré header from Serge Aurier's free-kick. Continue reading... |
| Hidden cameras found in locker room of top German women’s handball team Posted: 20 Jan 2022 09:22 AM PST
German police are investigating after two hidden cameras were found in the locker room of a leading women's handball team, the club said on Thursday. TuS Metzingen, who play in the top-tier Bundesliga, said the cameras were found earlier this week. Metzingen said that an unnamed person who worked with the team is being treated by police as a suspect and their role with the club has been terminated. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2022 10:18 PM PST World Surf League events are due in Victoria and WA but federal health minister says position on coronavirus vaccine is 'pretty clear' following Novak Djokovic visa saga Surfing great Kelly Slater could be the next big name in sport to be refused the right to compete in Australia, with the federal health minister saying the 11-time champion will not be allowed into the country if he is not vaccinated against Covid. Slater, who has not publicly disclosed his Covid vaccination status, has aired some controversial views on the Covid vaccine, including an Instagram comment in October that claimed he knew "more about being healthy than 99% of doctors". Continue reading... |
| ‘Like a work of art’: rare stretch of pristine coral reef discovered off Tahiti Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:40 AM PST Scientists say find shows importance of mapping deep ocean where coral can escape effects of global heating A huge coral reef has been discovered off the coast of Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean's "twilight zone", offering hope that more pristine ecosystems are waiting to be discovered at unexplored depths. Stretching along the ocean floor for nearly 2 miles, the reef, covered in rose-shaped corals, is one of the largest such discoveries at depths of more than 30 metres, where sunlight levels are much lower. Continue reading... |
| ‘The treeline is out of control’: how the climate crisis is turning the Arctic green Posted: 19 Jan 2022 10:00 PM PST In northern Norway, trees are rapidly taking over the tundra and threatening an ancient way of life that depends on snow and ice Altafjord is a wide expanse of black water on the edge of the Barents Sea, ringed with mountains. Alta is a relatively large town in the Finnmark province, the crown of the horse's mane that forms Norway's jagged coastline and Europe's northern shore. Here at sea level the most northerly trees in Europe are moving upslope, gobbling up the tundra as they go. The people and animals that live here are trying to make sense of the rapid changes with a mixture of confusion, denial and panic. Dawn at 70 degrees north during winter lasts nearly the whole day. The sun never rises, the day is permanently on the verge of breaking. It is disorienting. On the way to city hall from the guesthouse, I spied few pedestrians. Alta is a town built along American principles – that is to say a town built for a world in which petrol is cheap and cars are taken for granted. It is a landscape of shopping malls, gas stations and spaced-out residential suburbs. Normally at this time of year it isn't safe to be outside for long without wearing animal skins, but on the day of my visit it was only -1C. Continue reading... |
| ‘Like witnessing a birth in a morgue’: the volunteers working to save the Joshua trees Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST If carbon emissions stay at current levels, just 0.02% of the desert tree would survive. Volunteers are now banding together to plant seedlings The trees are not exactly imposing. Slim and spiny, with limbs that grip small poms of sharp leaves, they look like something a child might dream up. Or maybe Salvador Dalí. Even the name, Joshua tree, sounds kind of awkward. On a wet and chilly December morning, I stood at a makeshift encampment in the Mojave national preserve in San Bernardino county, California, listening as a group of strangers fretted over the trees' precarious future. Within the preserve is Cima Dome, a broad-sloping mound that, until recently, contained the densest Joshua tree forest in the world. The August 2020 Dome Fire in the Mojave national preserve burned more than 1m Joshua trees to varying degrees. Continue reading... |
| The fight for the future of the BBC | podcast Posted: 20 Jan 2022 07:00 PM PST The latest skirmish between the BBC and the government is part of a running debate over who the BBC serves, which dates back to the organisation's earliest days. But this time, the stakes are higher For more than a hundred years the BBC has been a mainstay of British life. The broadcaster's news bulletins, soap operas, children's programming, comedies, dramas, concerts, sport coverage and nature documentaries have shaped the nation's identity, and won the enduring loyalty of audiences around the world. Since 1922, the BBC's offerings have been funded by its licence fee – a charge originally linked to purchase of a wireless radio, Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian's chief culture writer and author of This New Noise: The Extraordinary Birth and Troubled Life of the BBC, notes. Today, that fee comes to £159 per year, or 43p per day. Continue reading... |
| How MI5 uncovered a Chinese ‘agent’ in parliament Posted: 19 Jan 2022 07:00 PM PST Britain's security services have named Christine Lee as an 'agent' of the Chinese state attempting to run influence operations in parliament. Dan Sabbagh explains what is behind the extraordinary statement and what it means for British politics Last week Britain's security services issued an extraordinary warning to parliament naming Christine Lee, a well-known lawyer in London's Chinese community, as an agent working covertly for the Chinese government. It is the first time MI5 has issued an "interference alert" relating to China and it cast a spotlight on the Labour MP Barry Gardiner, whose office received £584,177 worth of donations from Lee. Continue reading... |
| Sundance 2022: films and shows to look out for at this year’s festival Posted: 19 Jan 2022 11:02 PM PST A digital only year of the Utah-based festival promises a new Lena Dunham film, a buzzy thriller about dating and a documentary on Bill Cosby Even in a normal Sundance year, as Hollywood wraps up and heads to the mountains, it's difficult to predict what will and won't hit. What might look promising on paper too often tanks on screen while, time and time again, the smaller, less obvious titles resonate instead. What was set to be a hybrid physical-digital edition (after last year's digital only fest) has now become online only, an inevitable downgrade after the rise of Omicron. It's another low-key line-up surrounded by question marks, but here are the films to look out for: Continue reading... |
| Emergency review – endearing yet stressful contemporary campus caper Posted: 20 Jan 2022 10:00 PM PST A comedy thriller about three college friends of color weighing the risks of calling authorities is part hijinks-y romp and part social commentary Emergency, a comedy thriller about three college friends – two Black, one Latino – navigating a downpour of bad optics and decisions, traffics in several established lanes: the raucous one-last-epic-party romp a la Booksmart, where everything that can escalate will in the course of a single night; the hijinks-filled buddy road trip comedy albeit this time around campus; and the socially aware thriller in the shadow of Get Out, where every move is weighted by the looming threat of anti-Black racism in America. In other words, a ride somehow both warm and stressful, and an inviting mashup of familiar beats made fresh by a trio of grounded, endearing performances. The film, adapted from the 2018 Sundance short by screenwriter KD Dávila and director Carey Williams with distribution by Amazon, opens in party comedy mode: best friends Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) and Sean (RJ Cyler) determined to become the first Black students at fictional Buchanan College to complete a "legendary tour" of exclusive frat parties. The two are a classic yin-yang: Kunle the strait-laced and straight-A striver studying biology (the "Barack Obama of fungus", Sean ribs), Sean the laid-back stoner with zero future plan but a tight party schedule. Emergency is showing at the Sundance film festival and will be released on Amazon later this year Continue reading... |
| Belfast review – Kenneth Branagh’s euphoric eulogy to his home city Posted: 20 Jan 2022 05:00 AM PST Nightmarishness meets nostalgia as Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench star in a scintillating Troubles-era coming-of-age tale There is a terrific warmth and tenderness to Kenneth Branagh's elegiac, autobiographical movie about the Belfast of his childhood: spryly written, beautifully acted and shot in a lustrous monochrome, with set pieces, madeleines and epiphanies that feel like a more emollient version of Terence Davies. Some may feel that the film is sentimental or that it does not sufficiently conform to the template of political anger and despair considered appropriate for dramas about Northern Ireland and the Troubles. And yes, there is certainly a spoonful of sugar (or two) in the mix, with some mandatory Van Morrison on the soundtrack. There's a key climactic scene about how you disarm a gunman in the middle of a riot if you have no gun yourself, which has to be charitably indulged. But this film has such emotional generosity and wit and it tackles a dilemma of the times not often understood: when, and if, to pack up and leave Belfast? Is it an understandable matter of survival or an abandonment of your beloved home town to the extremists? (Full disclosure: my own dad left Belfast for England, though well before the era of this film.) Continue reading... |
| Willem Dafoe’s 20 best films – ranked! Posted: 20 Jan 2022 04:00 AM PST As his new film Nightmare Alley hits cinemas, the possessor of Hollywood's most piercing stare gets the ranked treatment Dafoe wasn't natural casting as the clerkly TS Eliot in this literary biopic, which chronicled the poet's troubled first marriage – and it showed, despite his customary actorly intelligence. If nothing else, it proved that, his highbrow credentials notwithstanding, Dafoe wasn't really cut out for the anglophile heritage pics that littered the 1990s. Continue reading... |
| Jimi Hendrix estate sues bandmates’ heirs after alleged royalties and copyright threat Posted: 20 Jan 2022 06:27 AM PST Estate claims families of Hendrix's bassist and drummer threatened them with a copyright infringement case over 'millions of pounds' of unpaid royalties The estate of Jimi Hendrix is suing the heirs of the trailblazing guitarist's former bandmates after they allegedly threatened to sue for "millions of pounds" in unpaid royalties dating back decades, Billboard reports. In December, Lawrence Abramson, a British lawyer representing the families of the Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist David Noel Redding and drummer John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell, sent a cease-and-desist letter that claimed they owned a stake in Hendrix's music and threatened to sue for infringement. Continue reading... |
| Centenary recording of Ulysses to be read by Eddie Izzard, Margaret Atwood and others Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:30 AM PST More than 100 writers, artists, comedians and musicians will voice James Joyce's seminal novel in celebration of its publication a century ago One hundred years ago, in February 1922, Sylvia Beach, owner of the Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company, published James Joyce's Ulysses, in full, for the first time. Now to mark the centenary of the seminal novel's publication, the publisher and bookseller she ran is set to release an ensemble recording of its complete text, featuring major names ranging from Eddie Izzard to Margaret Atwood. More than 100 writers, artists, comedians and musicians are coming together to read a section from Ulysses for Shakespeare and Company, including Will Self, Jeanette Winterson, Ben Okri and Meena Kandasamy. The recordings will be released as a free podcast, starting on 2 February and ending on 16 June, the date also known as Bloomsday in honour of the day in 1904 when Leopold Bloom wanders the streets in Ulysses. Continue reading... |
| Robbie Williams to sell three Banksy artworks for up to £10m Posted: 20 Jan 2022 04:00 AM PST Singer puts versions of Kissing Coppers, Girl with Balloon and Vandalised Oils (Choppers) up for auction One of the most successful British pop stars of the past three decades is putting up for auction works by one of the world's most celebrated contemporary artists. Robbie Williams, who has built a huge fortune from record sales and concerts, is selling three works by Banksy, the anonymous street artist whose partially shredded painting Love is in the Bin fetched a record £18.5m last year. Continue reading... |
| Robert Pattinson set to star in Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s new film Posted: 20 Jan 2022 04:28 AM PST The actor, who stars in the next Batman, will team up with the South Korean director for an adaptation of an Edward Ashton sci-fi novel Bong Joon-ho, whose satirical thriller Parasite swept the Oscars in February 2020, it to direct Robert Pattinson in a sci-fi adaptation of Edward Ashton's forthcoming novel Mickey7. The film will be made by Warner Bros, the studio to which Pattinson is also contracted for The Batman, in which he plays the lead role, due for release in March. Continue reading... |
| Nightmare Alley review – Guillermo del Toro’s fairground of fear is a class act Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:00 AM PST Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett lead us into the sleazy world of carnivals, with gruesomely enjoyable performances and freaky twists Guillermo del Toro hits us with a spectacular noir melodrama boasting gruesomely enjoyable performances and freaky twists. He shows us that in spite of the old song, there are in fact a couple of businesses like showbusiness: psychoanalysis and crime. Del Toro conducts us into a fairground of fear with his usual love of the fantastical and the hallucinatory, the same adoration of classic golden age Americana and some spasms of body-horror violence. Thankfully though, it's without the supernatural whimsy that sometimes threatens to drown his movies in twee. Nightmare Alley is adapted from the 1946 novel by pulp author William Lindsay Gresham, who had a great fascination for the US's sleazy carnies, circuses, travelling shows and magicians with their weird shimmer of the occult. (It's something to ponder that, after their divorce, Gresham's ex-wife Joy Davidman moved to England and famously married CS Lewis.) Nightmare Alley was first filmed in 1947 with Tyrone Power in the lead role, and now it's Bradley Cooper taking on the haunted, saturnine part of Stan Carlisle, a guy with no money and a violent past who needs to disappear for a while. Continue reading... |
| ‘There was pushback’: Pam & Tommy makers open up about show’s animatronic talking penis scene Posted: 20 Jan 2022 05:15 AM PST The upcoming drama based on Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's 90s sex tape scandal has a scene with animatronic genitalia. The network was initially baffled by the idea The team behind Disney+'s highly anticipated drama about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee have revealed there was pushback about one possibly controversial scene. According to the show's makers, a scene featuring Sebastian Stan (who plays Lee) having a conversation with an animatronic version of his own genitals initially baffled the network who commissioned the programme. "There was gentle pushback, because you've got to push back a little when a talking penis is presented to you. But Hulu was extremely supportive," writer Robert Siegel told Variety, of the network who produced the show, before Disney+ decided to bring it to the UK. Continue reading... |
| Virgil Abloh’s final collection for Louis Vuitton debuts in Paris Posted: 20 Jan 2022 12:13 PM PST The artistic director's Paris swansong dismantled masculine stereotypes and deconstructed cliches If Paris fashion week can come with a festive gaudiness, the highly anticipated Louis Vuitton autumn-winter 2022 show – the last by its late artistic director, Virgil Abloh, who died in November, was delivered with a special serenity. A revamped 19th century industrial building once entered, gave way to a majestic sky blue decor which served as a reminder of the celestial quality of Abloh's work. Continue reading... |
| While I love my job, I resent having to work at all. Any advice? | Leading questions Posted: 20 Jan 2022 08:30 AM PST Don't listen when people tell you about the noble value of a job, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Find a way to restore your sense of agency After many years I have finally got my "dream" job – it's perfect for me, the work is meaningful and genuinely interesting. However, a new problem has reared its head that I was not expecting – while I love my job, I resent having to work at all. I have become irrationally angry at the amount of time work takes up, that its schedule dictates most of my days, decisions on where I can live, that I have to request days off. What I do is important to me, but I cannot fathom that this is what my life will be for maybe the next 40 years – wearing dress code-appropriate clothing, wolfing down sandwiches in my 30-minute lunch break, then puttering back to my home to get a good eight hours so I can do it all again. The dream job did not exactly come with a dream salary, so shorter hours are out of the question, and I honestly don't think that would solve the underlying issue. While I wait for automation to take away the need for humans to work at all, any advice? Continue reading... |
| Memories of office life: at 20 and blind, my workmates pranked me mercilessly – and I loved it Posted: 19 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST The first time I worked in an office, I was the boss of a group of sceptical youngsters. They looked for my weak spots – then became my first full-sighted friends My first experience of office life was daunting. You might expect one's first experience of working in an office environment to be pretty gentle: making the tea, a bit of filing, running errands for the boss. Not a bit of it, in my case. Aged 20, with no experience of office life, I was the boss. And, just to add a little spice to the task, I was totally blind. My job as a community service volunteer at Youth Action York was to persuade a sceptical group of teenagers to give a helping hand to local elderly or disabled people who were struggling – assisting them with their shopping, perhaps, or tidying up their garden. It felt like a challenge, and my teenage volunteers made sure it was. Continue reading... |
| Easy wins: no one knows what we’re supposed to wear, so dress like a seven-year-old Posted: 20 Jan 2022 08:30 AM PST To wear what you really enjoy, think back to when you had the greatest autonomy over your outfits relative to your awareness of others' opinions of you It's 9pm the night before you are due to meet friends for a long-awaited catch-up, and a tentative message appears in the group chat: So, uh, what are we supposed to be wearing now? Two years spent mostly indoors has killed the art of dressing. My style references since March 2020 have been hip teens on TikTok, who lately are looking like they just walked off the set of underrated 2000 teen classic Whatever It Takes, and the five-pack of men's flannelette shirts I got on sale. Continue reading... |
| Movie stars, unwanted gifts and a Blue Monday myth – take the Thursday quiz Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST Fifteen questions on general knowledge and topical trivia plus a few jokes every Thursday – how will you fare? Does January feel like it has already lasted 1,057 days? Indeed it does. But at least this day is a Thursday, and you know what that means – 15 topical and general knowledge questions once again await you, as do Ron from Sparks, Kate Bush, and this week's rather obvious nod to the children's science fiction extravaganza Doctor Who. It is just for fun and there are no prizes, but let us know how you get on in the comments. The Thursday quiz, No 38 If you do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, please feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com but remember, the quiz master's word is always final, and he'll bring the anagrams back if you displease him. Continue reading... |
| ‘Exquisite views and total exhilaration’: readers’ favourite running routes Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST From the Med to the Pentland hills, our tipsters find their pace by azure seas, medieval city centres, ancient woods and up lofty ridges I love running in Ghent. It is completely flat, so encouraging for beginners and people aiming for personal bests. There is a rowing lake with a 5km track around the outside called Watersportsbaan. This connects with a nature reserve called Blaarmeersen on an 8km loop (with an artificial sandy beach to play volleyball, or swim in afterwards). To extend your route, there are gorgeous paths following the Leie River out into the countryside or through the historic city centre. If that isn't enough, there is another nature reserve, full of wader birds and canals, called Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen, surrounded by a 10k loop. I will be running my first marathon in Ghent in March 2022. Beer, waffles and chocolate after, anyone? |
| Georgia prosecutor seeks special grand jury into Trump’s election interference Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:04 PM PST DA requests subpoena power to compel testimony from witnesses, such as Brad Raffensperger, who Trump asked to 'find' 11,780 votes The prosecutor for Georgia's biggest county on Thursday requested a special grand jury with subpoena power to aid her investigation into former US president Donald Trump's efforts to influence the state's 2020 election results. In a letter to Fulton county's chief judge, first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, district attorney Fani Willis wrote that multiple witnesses have refused to cooperate without a subpoena requiring their testimony. Continue reading... |
| Snapchat fights drug dealing on app amid surge in youth overdose deaths Posted: 20 Jan 2022 02:26 PM PST Improved automated drug detection systems and enhanced partnerships with law enforcement are among changes Snapchat has announced new efforts to combat drug dealing on the platform, changes that come as drug-related deaths among US high school and college-aged youth are exploding. The company said it has improved automated drug detection systems, enhanced partnerships with law enforcement, and launched a new portal educating users on the dangers of drugs. Erin McCormick contributed reporting Continue reading... |
| Winter of peril and impossibility: Biden faces hard truth at anniversary press conference Posted: 19 Jan 2022 05:25 PM PST President touts accomplishments but acknowledges failure to foresee Trump's grip on Republican party Joe Biden spent decades in Washington, striving to reach the White House. When he achieved the goal a year ago on Thursday, at the age of 78, he spoke of a "winter of peril and possibility", of cascading crises as an opportunity to think big and aim high. It turns out the Washington he knows so well has proved more foe than friend, offering more peril than possibility. The 46th US president discovered that not being Donald Trump isn't enough to get things done or make people love him. Continue reading... |
| Crow-plagued California city turns to lasers and boomboxes to clear the air Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST More than a thousand crows roost in Sunnyvale every night, ruffling locals' feathers with caws and droppings Each night, more than a thousand crows descend on Sunnyvale, California. In recent years a growing contingency of corvids have been roosting in the Silicon Valley town's downtown district, filling the night air with a chorus of caws and painting the roads, Pollock-esque, with droppings. The spectacle has failed to charm residents and local business owners. Vice-Mayor Alysa Cisneros said constituents had been complaining about the crows since she began campaigning for office in 2019. "In terms of the kinds of complaints I get on a consistent basis, crows are a top concern, right after speeding drivers," she said. Continue reading... |
| Trump held secret meetings in days before Capitol attack, ex-press secretary tells panel Posted: 19 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST Stephanie Grisham gave more significant details than expected about what Trump was doing before 6 January, sources say The former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack that Donald Trump hosted secret meetings in the White House residence in days before 6 January, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The former senior Trump aide also told House investigators that the details of whether Trump actually intended to march to the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse rally would be memorialized in documents provided to the US Secret Service, the sources said. Continue reading... |
| Democrats fail to advance voting rights law as Senate holdouts defend filibuster Posted: 20 Jan 2022 05:27 AM PST Sweeping protections for voters, already passed by House and backed by Biden, fail to clear 60-vote procedural hurdle Senate Democrats failed again to pass sweeping new voting protections on Wednesday, in what may be the most brutal blow yet to efforts to strengthen protections for voters at a perilous moment for US democracy. Just as they have done four other times in recent months, all 50 Republicans united in their opposition to the measure. They relied on the filibuster, a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance legislation to a final vote. Continue reading... |
| Peloton sees dip in shares as demand for exercise bikes winds down Posted: 20 Jan 2022 12:45 PM PST The company slashed its full-year outlook by about $1bn and is temporarily pausing production of its products Shares of the exercise bike maker Peloton slumped as much as 27% on Thursday following a report that it was temporarily pausing production of its connected fitness products due to slowing demand and to control costs. The company in a confidential presentation dated 10 January said demand had seen "significant reduction" and that it planned to pause bike production in February and March, according to a CNBC report. It also won't manufacture the Tread treadmill machine for six weeks, beginning next month. Continue reading... |
| From student law to Steinem: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s library up for auction Posted: 20 Jan 2022 05:57 AM PST Bonhams says late supreme court justice's collection gives sense of who she was and how she came to be The personal library of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late US supreme court judge who became a liberal and feminist icon for championing women's rights, is up for auction. Among more than 1,000 books from Ginsburg's collection are legal textbooks from her student days, literature, feminist classics, and works by her fellow supreme court justices. Continue reading... |
| Emirates to resume Boeing 777 flights to US after 5G go-ahead Posted: 20 Jan 2022 04:55 AM PST FAA gives approval for more types of planes to land in low visibility near 5G signals The long-haul carrier Emirates has said it will resume its Boeing 777 flights to the US after halting its use of the aircraft there over concerns new 5G services in the country could interfere with planes' instruments that measure altitude. International carriers that rely heavily on the wide-body 777 and other Boeing aircraft cancelled early flights or switched to different planes on Wednesday after warnings from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Chicago-based plane-maker about possible 5G interference with radio altimeters. Continue reading... |
| UK’s Liz Truss warns Russia of ‘terrible quagmire’ if it invades Ukraine Posted: 20 Jan 2022 02:30 PM PST Foreign secretary says emboldened autocracies are seeking to export dictatorship around the world Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, has warned Russia that any invasion of Ukraine would only lead to "a terrible quagmire and loss of life" on the scale of the Soviet-Afghan war. Speaking at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, Truss framed the Ukraine conflict as part of a wider dispute between what she saw as liberal states and autocracies, including Russia and China. Continue reading... |
| Papua New Guinea repeals death penalty 30 years after reintroduction Posted: 20 Jan 2022 09:09 PM PST Justice minister says state lacks ability to humanely execute those convicted, while PM says PNG is a 'Christian nation' Papua New Guinea has repealed the death penalty 30 years after reintroducing it, with prime minister James Marape saying it was "not an effective deterrent to serious crime". Offences such as treason, piracy, murder – including sorcery related violence – and aggravated rape will now be punishable by life imprisonment without parole or parole after 30 years. Continue reading... |
| One firefighter dead and another seriously injured in South Australia bushfire Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:22 PM PST Incident occurred when a tree collapsed on a fire truck as crews battled an out-of-control blaze at Coles One firefighter has died and another has been seriously injured after a tree collapsed on a fire truck battling an out-of-control bushfire in South Australia's south-east. The incident occurred at the firefront at Coles, near Lucindale, where the blaze was running uncontrolled through bluegum plantations, scrub and grassland, a spokeswoman for the state's Country Fire Service said. Continue reading... |
| New Hong Kong barristers’ chief warns profession to stay out of politics Posted: 20 Jan 2022 04:47 PM PST Victor Dawes says the group should build closer ties to mainland China amidst concerns about the rule of law The newly elected leader of Hong Kong barristers says that his profession should avoid politics and build closer ties to mainland China, as concerns grow about rule of law in the financial hub. The Hong Kong Bar Association has been a vocal defender of human rights and its previous leader had criticised a Beijing-imposed national security law, drawing fierce condemnation from Chinese officials. Continue reading... |
| Police arrest two men in UK over Texas synagogue attack Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:40 AM PST Arrests take place in Birmingham and Manchester in connection with US attack by Malik Faisal Akram Two men have been arrested in Birmingham and Manchester as part of the investigation into the Texas synagogue attack by the British hostage-taker Malik Faisal Akram. The men, whose ages have not been released, were "in custody for questioning", Greater Manchester police said, and were held on Thursday morning as part of an "ongoing investigation". Continue reading... |
| Tales from the crypto: lira crisis fuels Bitcoin boom in Turkey Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST Lack of trust in official currency has led to surging interest in cryptocurrencies – despite their volatility and government opposition In the offices of AltCoin, a cryptocurrency hub tucked away in a sidestreet in Istanbul's bustling Kadıköy neighbourhood, two wall-mounted TV sets showed the live value of currencies bitcoin and Ethereum, both graphs sloping downwards. AltCoin's all-male inhabitants were not worried – in the chaotic world of cryptocurrency, their fortunes could soon change. Continue reading... |
| Canada’s Prince Andrew high school announces plan to change name Posted: 20 Jan 2022 08:46 AM PST School attempt to distance itself from the growing controversy surrounding the Duke of York A Canadian high school named after the Duke of York has announced plans to rename itself, in an attempt to distance itself from the growing controversy surrounding the Queen's second son. The principal of Prince Andrew high school in the province of Nova Scotia told families on Wednesday to expect the change as the school looks for a name that "upholds our values as a safe and inclusive" space. Continue reading... |
| Stranded dog saved from rising tide after rescuers attach sausage to drone Posted: 20 Jan 2022 07:02 AM PST Team in Hampshire ties sausage to drone as 'last resort' to rescue Millie the jack russell from mudflats As the tide rose, it began to look perilous for Millie the jack russell-whippet cross, who had defied the efforts of police, firefighters and coastguards to pluck her from treacherous mudflats. So the rescuers had to think imaginatively, and came up with the idea of attaching a sausage to a drone and hoping the scent of the treat would tempt Millie to safety. It worked gloriously and Millie has been reunited with her grateful owner after following the dangling sausage to higher, safer ground. Continue reading... |
| Taliban launch raids on homes of Afghan women’s rights activists Posted: 20 Jan 2022 01:24 PM PST Campaigners arrested by armed men days after anti-hijab protest in Kabul, with beatings reported Taliban gunmen have raided the homes of women's rights activists in Kabul, beating and arresting female campaigners in a string of actions apparently triggered by recent demonstrations. Tamana Zaryabi Paryani and Parawana Ibrahimkhel, who participated in a series of protests held in Kabul over the last few months, were seized on Wednesday night by armed men claiming to be from the Taliban intelligence department. Continue reading... |
| ‘Stuck in perilous moment’: Doomsday Clock holds at 100 seconds to midnight Posted: 20 Jan 2022 03:12 PM PST The clock has been set at that time third year in a row as science and security board says it 'brings neither stability nor security' The Doomsday Clock, established 75 years ago by scientists to illustrate the danger of human extinction, remains at 100 seconds to midnight according to a panel of experts. It is the third year in a row that the clock has been set at that time, which is closer to midnight than at any period during the cold war, including the Cuban missile crisis. Continue reading... |
| ‘I am losing my skills’: female boxer who was on Afghan national team Posted: 20 Jan 2022 06:00 AM PST Along with her sister, Mariam was forced to stop practising her sport when the Taliban came to power *Mariam and her sister were on the national boxing team and the youth boxing team. They were ordered by the Taliban to stop practising, and are frightened they may be targeted in future. The interview was interrupted by a hail of gunshots near the place they are staying. About two weeks after they took Kabul, the Taliban sent two gunmen to our doorstep. They told us: "Forget your dreams. The Islamic emirate is here now, you should stop boxing, and not go to the stadium." Continue reading... |
| ‘Why? Is there a resemblance?’ Tarantula-killing worm named for actor Jeff Daniels Posted: 19 Jan 2022 06:38 PM PST The Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi parasite kills tarantulas, just like Daniels did in the 1990 cult classic Arachnophobia It was a career honor Jeff Daniels probably didn't think he was going to be bestowed with. The famed actor, musician and producer on Wednesday etched his way into history by inspiring the name of a very special newly discovered species of worm. The parasite – now dubbed Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi – kills tarantulas, just like Daniels did in the 1990 cult classic Arachnophobia. (Note: for all those concerned – unlike his newly discovered namesake – Daniels did not actually kill any spiders. Allegedly no arachnids were harmed on set.) Continue reading... |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2022 10:38 PM PST Sherrill Roland was sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. Now exonerated, he's created an exhibition using only materials available on the inside Sherrill Roland could not touch his daughter until she was nearly a year old. He had spent 10 months in prison for a crime he did not commit. "It was the first time I finally got out again and got to choose which clothes I actually put on and the first time I got to hold her," he recalls by phone. "She gave me a big smile and I was just in awe." Continue reading... |
| Peru seeks compensation after oil spill devastates marine life – video Posted: 20 Jan 2022 02:51 AM PST Peru has demanded compensation from the Spanish oil firm Repsol after freak waves caused by a volcanic eruption near Tonga caused a disastrous oil spill. The spill happened in an area rich in marine life such as seabirds, sea lions and otters. Locals have only rudimentary equipment to try to clear the oil. Peru's prime minister, Mirtha Vásquez, has claimed the Pampilla refinery, run by Repsol, apparently did not have a contingency plan for an oil spill Continue reading... |
| ‘What are the Republicans for?': Joe Biden says Trump 'intimidating' entire party – video Posted: 19 Jan 2022 08:41 PM PST US president Joe Biden has accused the Republicans of blocking his legislative agenda for purely political purposes, saying the party is more interested in defeating his presidency than doing things for the American people. Without mentioning his name, Biden suggested that former president Donald Trump was still in control of the Republican party, with members of Congress fearful they will be defeated in their primaries if they vote contrary to his wishes. Biden questioned what the purpose of the Republican party was during his a press briefing marking the one-year anniversary of his presidency
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| Tonga: new footage shows aftermath of volcano eruption and tsunami – video Posted: 20 Jan 2022 05:53 AM PST Footage has emerged from Tonga showing buildings covered with ash, as well as damage to properties and infrastructure. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted on Saturday evening, triggering tsunami waves of up to 15 metres. Water supplies were seriously affected by volcanic ash, according to the government Continue reading... |
| 'Surreal': Naomi Osaka on support from Andy Murray after Australian Open win – video Posted: 19 Jan 2022 07:47 AM PST Naomi Osaka said Andy Murray's support 'means a lot' after he praised her on Twitter during her second-round victory against the American Madison Brengle at the Australian Open. 'It was really cool just to have someone like him talking about my game,' she said during the press conference. Osaka will now face Amanda Anisimova in the third round.
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| British BMX star Kieran Reilly lands world's first triple flair – video Posted: 19 Jan 2022 06:02 AM PST The rising BMX star Kieran Reilly made history after landing the world's first triple flair trick, 16 years after the first double flair was landed. 'I can't believe it. So so happy to show you all this! You can see how high emotions were just in this video,' Reilly said on Instagram. Continue reading... |
| America in Crisis – in pictures Posted: 20 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST America in Crisis brings together 40 leading American photographers and more than 120 works exploring social change in the US from the 1960s to the present day. The exhibition, organised by Saatchi Gallery, opens from 21 January to 3 April Continue reading... |
| From Afghanistan to Italy: a teenage ski champion flees the Taliban – in pictures Posted: 21 Jan 2022 01:30 AM PST Until August last year, 18-year-old Nazira Khairzad lived a carefree existence with her family in the foothills of the Bamyan mountains. She loves sport and was a champion skier, but when the Taliban took over she decided to flee, leaving her old life behind. Photojournalist Rick Findler documented her attempts to settle into a new life Continue reading... |
| Around the world in 300 dates: Metallica’s black album tour – in pictures Posted: 19 Jan 2022 11:00 PM PST Metallica's self-titled 1991 album, known to fans as 'the black album', helped turn the rock band into global stars. Photographer Ross Halfin accompanied them on an epic tour Continue reading... |
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