Amid Trump’s lies and xenophobic rants, people struggling to pay bills and make ends meet are unlikely to be moved
He wanted to give the king’s speech. Donald Trump entered the US House chamber on Tuesday like a medieval monarch, with Republicans lined up eager to touch his royal robes (or, in two cases, grab a selfie with him). But within moments, the illusion was shattered.
As the US president strolled by, soaking up adulation, Democratic representative Al Green of Texas held aloft a handwritten sign: “Black people aren’t apes!” – a reference to Trump recently sharing a racist video depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama.
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© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
I was in New Orleans for work, without travel insurance, when the car crashed into me. In the months I spent recovering, I began to think seriously about how I treated my health
The SUV slammed into me at a crosswalk, where I had right of way. It was 2024 and I was on the first night of a work trip to New Orleans. Time slowed down as I flew 2 metres through the air and crashed on to the road in what felt like slow motion. When I managed to stand up, there were waves of adrenaline juddering through me. My friend, Brandy, and a group of strangers helped me to the side of the road, and it was then that I remembered my annual travel insurance had expired the week before. In a prim, defensive tone, like a dowager who’d just had a fainting spell and resented all the fuss, I insisted that I was perfectly fine and didn’t need an ambulance. Then I blacked out.
The paramedics arrived and, despite my protests, they wouldn’t take no for an answer. On the stretcher, I started calculating how much money I had in my current account, how much I could put on a credit card and how much I could plausibly ask to borrow from my parents. My lack of insurance was entirely due to my own fecklessness, but being forced to run these sums with a head injury, after begging not to receive help that I obviously needed, was an almost comically bleak experience.
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© Photograph: Courtesy of James Greig
© Photograph: Courtesy of James Greig
© Photograph: Courtesy of James Greig
Human remains found near a golf club in Pitt Town confirmed to be those of Chris Baghsarian
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Police have declared “our work is not done” as the search continues to find the people involved in the alleged kidnapping and murder of 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian, with two men in custody still awaiting charges.
On Wednesday morning, one man, 29, was arrested in Kenthurst and another, 24, was arrested in Castle Hill over the grandfather and widower’s death. Both men, who had been residing at their family homes, were taken to Riverstone police station as inquiries continued.
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© Photograph: NSW Police Force
© Photograph: NSW Police Force
© Photograph: NSW Police Force
Throughout the speech, Trump seemed tired. He had difficulty reading from his teleprompter; he gripped the podium with a tightness bordering on desperation
It is one of Donald Trump’s unique talents that he reveals the absurd obsolescence of long-held traditions. In presidential election years, is screaming bloviations on stage make the exercise of gathering the candidates together seem futile. In power, when he divorces facts from policymaking and relies instead on myth and grift to guide his decisions, he renders useless and impotent vast fields of expertise.
When he lies in public, and insists that his fantasies and distortions will dictate the course of government action, he makes those of us in the news business wonder if there’s any point, any more, in gathering and printing the truth.
Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist
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© Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
© Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
© Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
Brown is said to be driven by moral anger but insiders suggest he may feel guilty for bringing Peter Mandelson back into government
Before Gordon Brown sent a draft of his 6 February comment piece on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal to the Guardian for publication, he asked friends whether he had gone too far.
The former prime minister had written that he found it “hard to find words to express my revulsion at what has been uncovered about Epstein and his impact on our politics” and the “time is overdue to let in the light”.
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© Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
© Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
© Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Researchers discover rare periods of a few thousands years when climate unexpectedly awoke from slumber
During the ”snowball Earth” period about 700m years ago, Earth’s climate shut down. The planet was encased in ice and insulated from seasonal variations: spring, summer, autumn and winter all stopped. Or at least that was the theory.
Recent examination of some ancient rocks from the west coast of Scotland have now overturned that thinking, suggesting there were periods during snowball Earth when the climate woke up.
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© Photograph: Prof Thomas Gernon/University of Southampton
© Photograph: Prof Thomas Gernon/University of Southampton
© Photograph: Prof Thomas Gernon/University of Southampton
Thousands more people across Devon and Cornwall could join case against water firm
A group legal claim against South West Water alleging sewage pollution into coastal waters is harming businesses and individuals has been expanded across Devon and Cornwall.
Thousands more individuals could now join the first environmental community group legal action against a water company over the impact of sewage pollution.
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© Photograph: John Lunt/Alamy
© Photograph: John Lunt/Alamy
© Photograph: John Lunt/Alamy
Reform is promising a ‘patriotic school curriculum’ – but what does that mean? In the end it comes down to submission to the leader
In September 2022, seven months into an all-out war in Ukraine that was only supposed to last a few weeks, Russian schoolchildren started compulsory patriotism lessons. Since then, Monday mornings have been set aside for “conversations about what is important” – a class on the glories of national history; western perfidy; the virtue of self-sacrifice for the Motherland; Vladimir Putin’s wise leadership.
Authoritarian regimes never trust people to love their country spontaneously. Organic national identity, the kind that grows without state cultivation, contains stories of dissent and cultural idiosyncrasy. Variety is subversive.
Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist
Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?
On Monday 30 April, ahead of the May elections, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour is under from both the Green party and Reform and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader of the party. Book tickets here
© Photograph: Jacob King/PA
© Photograph: Jacob King/PA
© Photograph: Jacob King/PA
A traditional Kashmiri curry and spicy street food bring the best out of this flavourful meat
Mutton rarely gets the attention it deserves. It’s a mature meat, so is naturally sustainable, and it has a depth and richness that younger cuts simply cannot offer. That robustness is exactly what makes it so rewarding to cook with. Mutton’s bold character stands up beautifully to spices, aromatics and slow cooking, so it’s ideal for curries, stews and braises; on the grill, meanwhile, it takes on smoke in a way that enhances its complexity, rather than overwhelming it. You’re unlikely to find mutton in the supermarket, so you’ll need to make a trip to the butcher’s (many halal ones sell it) or order online.
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© Photograph: Rita Platts/The Guardian. Food styling: Hanna Miller. Prop styling: Louie Waller. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke.
© Photograph: Rita Platts/The Guardian. Food styling: Hanna Miller. Prop styling: Louie Waller. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke.
© Photograph: Rita Platts/The Guardian. Food styling: Hanna Miller. Prop styling: Louie Waller. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke.
Surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island
Japan will deploy missiles to a tiny island near Taiwan within five years, its defence minister has said, in a move that is likely to inflame tensions with China.
The surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni – Japan’s westernmost island – by March 2031, Shinjiro Koizumi said.
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© Photograph: KYODO/Reuters
© Photograph: KYODO/Reuters
© Photograph: KYODO/Reuters
President hails ‘turnaround for the ages’ but offers few policy pledges and repeats jibes against ‘crazy’ Democrats
Donald Trump proclaimed his first year in office a success at the State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, even as his presidency is dogged by low public approval ratings before November’s midterm elections in which voters could hand control of Congress back to his Democratic opponents.
The annual address to a joint session of Congress came after months of turmoil for the Republican president, including a crackdown on immigrant communities in Minneapolis that resulted in the deaths of two US citizens, and faltering progress on his campaign promise of lowering the cost of living.
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© Photograph: Kenny Holston/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Kenny Holston/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Kenny Holston/AFP/Getty Images
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