Josep Borrell warns ‘severe costs’ would follow any aggression against Kyiv by Russian-backed separatists The European Union’s top diplomat has pledged “full support” to Ukraine on a visit to the frontline of the country’s war with Moscow-backed separa…
Seven children among 13 people dead in Philadelphia house fire
Large fire broke out at three-storey rowhouse in FairmountOfficials say four smoke detectors in building were not workingA large house fire in Philadelphia early on Wednesday killed 13 people, including seven children, and sent two people to hospitals,…
Trump’s border wall and the slow decay of American soil | Carlos Sanchez
The ‘big, beautiful wall’ has kept US citizens away from the no man’s land it created – and in effect ceded territory to MexicoSeveral miles south of the small town of San Juan, Texas, beyond acres of onion fields, orange groves and other cash crops si…
Canadian court awards $107m to families of Iran plane crash victims
Civil lawsuit was filed against Iran and other officials the family members believe were to blame for the incidentA court in Ontario, Canada, has awarded C$107m ($83.94m), plus interest, to the families of six people who died when the Iranian Revolutio…
Capitol attack: Cheney says Republicans must choose between Trump and truth
Republican member of the House committee investigating the events of 6 January issues stark warning to her partyThe Steal: stethoscope for a democracy near cardiac arrestOn a day of alarming polling about attitudes to political violence and fears for U…
Can you capture the complex reality of the pandemic with numbers? Well, we tried… | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters
Throughout 2021, two leading lights of the Royal Statistical Society Covid-19 Task Force drew on data for a weekly Observer column, and found themselves in the middle of Covid culture warsIndividual experiences and suffering are, of course, at the hear…
Britain got it wrong on Covid: long lockdown did more harm than good, says scientist
A new book outlines the mistakes and missteps that made UK pandemic worseThere was a distinctive moment, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, that neatly encapsulated the mistakes and confusion of Britain’s early efforts to tackle the disease, says M…
Trump acolytes vie for key election oversight posts in US midterms
Swing state races for governor and secretary of state are the most consequential midterm contestsWhen Americans go to the polls in the 2022 midterms, the most important elections won’t be for office in Washington. The most high-stakes races will be sta…
Keir Starmer is making headway, but has he got enough to worry the Tories? | Anne McElvoy
With a seven-point poll lead and a bolstered shadow cabinet, the Labour leader is finally making his markIf champagne socialism did not have such a bad rap, there should be a decent bottle or two open at Keir Starmer’s place this new year weekend. The …
‘I would have bought stock in Zoom!’: experts on wisdom (and regrets) for a new year of Covid
As we greet a third calendar year of pandemic life, experts who helped us make sense of the past two years discuss lessons learned, and wisdom to carry forwardIf 2020 was a year of fear and isolation, 2021 marked one of return – a road toward something…