Edwards taped message that became catchphrase and served as title of 1998 film starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
Elwood Edwards, who voiced AOL’s “You’ve got mail” greeting, has died, aged 74.
Edwards died on Tuesday at his home in New Bern, North Carolina, his daughter Heather said. The cause was complications from a stroke late last year, she added.
Continue reading...Carré Otis speaks after court reverses decision and rules lawsuit accusing Gérald Marie of rape in Paris can proceed
The American model Carré Otis has said she is “elated” her sexual assault lawsuit against the former modeling agency boss Gérald Marie and New York talent agent Trudi Tapscott was revived by a federal appeals court more than two years after a crushing dismissal.
“Definitely mixed feelings and really elated,” Otis told the Guardian in her first interview since the ruling earlier this week, when asked how she felt about the US second circuit court of appeals reversing a lower court’s decision.
Continue reading...Lib Dem leader says government should work with Trump but be prepared for him to act on security and trade threats
Ed Davey has urged Keir Starmer to “Trump-proof” the UK by urgently seeking closer European cooperation over military aid for Ukraine and economic ties, after the US president-elect’s threats about security and trade wars.
The Liberal Democrat leader, whose party is the third biggest in the House of Commons, argued that while the UK government should seek to work with a Donald Trump administration, it should also be as prepared as possible if he were to abandon Ukraine or impose sweeping tariffs.
Continue reading...Three injured as victim named as Antônio Vinícius Lopes Gritzbach, who had been threatened by top crime syndicate
A Brazilian businessman has been killed and three people injured in an apparent gangland assassination at São Paulo’s international airport in Guarulhos.
The victims were caught in a hail of bullets when a gunman with a rifle opened fire from inside a black car parked outside the airport’s terminal 2, which is mainly used for domestic flights.
Continue reading...X chief, who campaigned hard for Trump, spoke to Ukraine leader after being handed phone by president-elect
Elon Musk reportedly made a surprise guest appearance on a call between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, solidifying the Tesla chief executive’s role as the most influential civilian in the country come January.
Musk was present with Trump during the call for roughly 25 minutes, according to Axios, which first reported the call. Trump handed Musk the phone and Musk and Zelenskyy spoke briefly. On the call, Zelenskyy thanked Musk for the satellites he had been providing Ukraine through his company, Starlink, according to AFP. Musk said he would continue to provide satellite internet connection, the report said.
Continue reading...Police say plans in place to deal with rise in border crossings as US president-elect pledges to remove 11m people
Canada is bracing for a surge of migrants to its southern border after Donald Trump doubled down on his pledge to conduct the largest mass deportation in American history.
On Thursday, Trump told NBC News there was “no choice” but to proceed in removing some of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the United States.
Continue reading...Yechiel Leiter, American-born rightwinger, has called for ultimate Israeli ‘sovereignty’ over West Bank territories
Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a hardline supporter of the war in Gaza and longtime backer of settlements in the West Bank as his ambassador to the US as Israel prepares for the incoming administration of Donald Trump.
Yechiel Leiter, an American-born rightwing publicist and former government aide who immigrated to Israel four decades ago, was announced as Israel’s next ambassador to Washington on Friday. His son, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, was killed in fighting in northern Gaza last year.
Continue reading...David Miliband, Peter Mandelson and Cathy Ashton thought to be on shortlist for diplomatic role
A decision on a new US ambassador is likely to be taken within days, with David Miliband, Peter Mandelson and Cathy Ashton all on the shortlist, the Guardian understands.
Whitehall sources said Downing Street is determined to press ahead with the appointment of a new US ambassador now that Donald Trump has been confirmed as the new president.
Continue reading...Unnamed official of Iranian guard told a contact in September to create a plan to kill Trump, complaint says; judge grants Jack Smith’s ask to pause proceedings after election result
A federal judge has struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to US citizens.
The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of US citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country.
The temporary relief from deportation brought a brief sense of security to some 500,000 immigrants estimated to benefit from the program before Texas-based U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker put it on hold in August, days after applicants filed their paperwork.
Barker ruled yesterday that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority by implementing the program and had stretched the legal interpretation of relevant immigration law “past its breaking point.”
The short-lived Biden administration initiative known as “Keeping Families Together” would have been unlikely to remain in place after Donald Trump took office in January. But its early termination creates greater uncertainty for immigrant families as many are bracing for Trump’s return to the White House.
CNN’s latest projection of the crucial races to gain control of the House has Republicans ahead in ten of the contests, with, according to their projections, only six victories needed to tip them over the magic 218 for control.
Continue reading...Plane carrying fans home lands in Israel as Amsterdam mayor condemns ‘hit and run’ attacks on visiting supporters
Amsterdam police have made more than 60 arrests after what authorities called “hateful antisemitic violence” against Israeli football fans.
A plane carrying football supporters brought home from the Dutch capital by the Israeli government landed on Friday at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport after the clashes on Thursday, which took place after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Continue reading...Head of the Norwegian Refugee Council calls for peace process to begin as new figures reveal civilians have borne the brunt of the war
Nearly 70% of the people killed in the war in Gaza are women and children, according to a UN analysis of verified deaths that highlights the heavy civilian toll of the ongoing conflict.
In a new report, the most detailed analysis of its kind yet, the UN human rights office said it had verified 8,119 of those killed during the first six months of the war in Gaza. Of the fatalities, 3,588 were children and 2,036 were women. The youngest victim was a one-day-old boy and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman.
Continue reading...Trump campaign said US officials warned him in September about suspected Iranian assassination plot
The US justice department is bringing criminal charges over an Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump that was thwarted by the FBI, the government said.
The federal government has unsealed criminal charges in what the justice department said was a murder-for-hire plan to take out Trump before this week’s presidential election, which he won decisively over his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.
Continue reading...Budapest meeting finds consensus on need to raise growth and productivity as ‘America first’ protectionism looms
EU leaders meeting in Budapest have signed a declaration aimed at boosting the bloc’s ailing competitiveness – a task given added urgency by the threat of “America first” protectionist trade policies promised by the US president-elect, Donald Trump.
The bloc has too many barriers to innovation and must drastically reduce red tape, especially for startups; ramp up investment; make access to capital easier; and raise productivity, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday.
Continue reading...Jonathan Powell led talks on Chagos Islands in September and played key role in Good Friday agreement
Jonathan Powell, the former chief of staff to Tony Blair, has been appointed as Keir Starmer’s national security adviser in a further sign that leading figures from the New Labour era are returning to the government.
The veteran former diplomat, who played a significant role in the Northern Ireland peace deal struck in 1998 and served Blair for a decade, will be responsible for advising on the UK’s approach to the war in Ukraine and the international implications of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Official in Zelenskyy administration expresses frustration with Starmer over lack of missiles
Ukraine’s relationship with the UK has “got worse” since the Labour government took power in July, officials in Kyiv have told the Guardian, voicing frustration over Britain’s failure to supply additional long-range missiles.
The UK prime minister is yet to visit Ukraine four months after taking office and a frustrated Kyiv has said that a trip would be worthless unless Keir Starmer committed to replenishing stocks of the sought after long-range Storm Shadow system.
Continue reading...Most recent fatality marks 17th beluga to die at Niagara Falls, Ontario, aquarium since 2019
A fifth beluga has died at Canada’s Marineland, as questions mount over the future of both the controversial theme park and one of the world’s largest populations of captive whales.
The most recent fatality marks the 17th beluga to die at the Niagara Falls aquarium since 2019.
Continue reading...Some ex-girlfriends of accused men tell court of burden of not knowing if they had been sedated and molested in past
Giving evidence in Avignon’s criminal court, a softly spoken woman in her 30s pondered the question if the medication she took as part of managing her multiple sclerosis might have allowed her ex-partner, Cédric G, to sexually abuse her without her knowledge. She described their relationship as “lies, from start to finish”.
Cédric G, 50, a software technician who used to run a record shop in Avignon, looked on from behind the glass-screened dock in the court. He is one of 51 men on trial over the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, whose then husband, Dominique Pelicot, crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into her food and invited dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious over a nine-year period from 2011 to 2020 in the village of Mazan in Provence.
Continue reading...Ivory Coast drinks festival aims to champion and change perceptions of alcohol made in the region
At an event in Abidjan in late October, Alexandre Quest Bede noticed someone staring at him. Then the stranger walked up to him with a T-shirt and asked for an autograph.
“He pointed at me excitedly and said: ‘You’re Monsieur Gnamakou, I know you from Instagram!’” recalls Bede at the poolside bar of Bissa, a boutique hotel in the upmarket Deux Plateaux neighbourhood on the eve of Abidjan cocktail week.
Continue reading...Cash stops short of hoped-for ‘bazooka option’, with critics calling it ‘an accounting exercise’ that will not bolster growth
China has announced 10tn yuan in debt support for local governments and other economic measures, but stopped short of the “bazooka” stimulus package that many analysts had expected.
The fiscal package included raising debt ceilings for local governments by 6tn yuan (£646bn) over three years, so they could replace hidden debt, which authorities said stood at 14.3tn yuan by the end of 2023.
Continue reading...An elephant at Berlin zoo used its trunk to interrupt flow of water from hose used by another elephant
If you get frustrated by the shower hog in your house you’re not alone: research suggests such behaviour might even irritate elephants.
Scientists say they have not only discovered an elephant with an astonishing ability to shower with a hose, but spotted another cutting off the flow of water – possibly in a deliberate act of sabotage.
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