Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

EU and parts of US already block access to Chinese-owned app amid concerns over data privacy and security

Canada has joined the US and EU in enacting a sweeping ban preventing TikTok from being installed on all government-issued mobile devices, as western officials take action over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, did not rule out further action. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” he said.

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Supreme court to hear challenges to Biden’s student debt relief plan – live

Signature policy at risk as conservatives argue president does not have authority to lessen debt burden

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Joe Biden’s plan to provide some student debt relief to tens of millions of Americans will be before the supreme court today, which will hear two cases brought by conservatives challenging the proposal. There’s no telling how the court – which is composed of six conservative justices and three liberals – will rule on the petitions, which argue the president does not have the legal authority to provide relief. But a ruling striking the program down or limiting it would be a major loss for the White House. We may get a sense of which way the justices are leaning in today’s oral arguments.

Here’s what else is going on today:

Republicans in the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would bar retirement funds from sustainable investing.

The House select committee on competition with the Chinese Communist party will hold its first hearing during the primetime TV hour, at 7 pm eastern time.

Biden is heading to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he’ll speak about his efforts to lower healthcare costs.

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Ransomware attack on US Marshals compromises sensitive information

Federal agency best known for tracking down fugitives suffered security breach on 17 February

The US Marshals service fell victim to a ransomware security breach this month that compromised sensitive law enforcement information, a spokesperson said on Monday.

The federal agency which is perhaps best known for its work in tracking down and capturing fugitives wanted by law enforcement notified the US government of the breach, and agents there began a forensic investigation, the chief of the Marshals’ public affairs office, Drew Wade, told Reuters in a statement.

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Settler violence in West Bank escalates | First Thing

Rampage in Palestinian village likened to ‘Kristallnacht in Huwara’ with one dead and 350 hurt. Plus, what’s the ethical alternative to veganism?

Good morning,

Newly released court documents reveal that Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Fox News, acknowledged under oath that several Fox News hosts endorsed Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Why is this case so significant? Dominion’s defamation case is being described as a “landmark”. A Harvard law professor told the Guardian he had “never seen a defamation case with such overwhelming proof that the defendant admitted in writing that it was making up fake information in order to increase its viewership and its revenues”.

What sparked the attack? Sunday’s riot was triggered by the murders of Hillel Yaniv, 22, and Yagel Yaniv, 20, from the nearby settlement of Har Bracha. Route 60, the Israeli road running north to south through the middle of the territory, cuts through the middle of Huwara, making the village a well-known flashpoint.

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Florida court denies habeas corpus petition for fetus of jailed woman

Although the case was decided on a technicality, a dissenting judge on panel said the court should have rejected the claim on its merits

A Florida appeals court denied an attorney’s attempt to have a woman released from jail ahead of trial by arguing that her fetus was being illegally detained without charge – but the attorney says he plans to continue the legal battle.

Florida’s third district court of appeal dismissed without prejudice a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by attorney William M Norris on behalf of the “unborn child” of Natalia Harrell.

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Texas inmates say ‘decade after decade’ of solitary confinement is torture

Prisoners who joined hunger strike to protest extreme conditions describe the damage isolation inflicts on mental health

Texas prisoners who joined a hunger strike in protest against the state’s widespread use of prolonged solitary confinement have described the damage to inmates’ mental and physical health inflicted by a system they equate with torture.

Guadalupe III Constante said that despite having a clean disciplinary record, he has been held in isolation every day since he was convicted of robbery 17 years ago. “I went on hunger strike to bring attention to this torture – I haven’t had contact with my wife, kids, brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents in 17 years.”

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Rupert Murdoch testified that Fox News hosts ‘endorsed’ stolen election narrative

Network owner also admitted in $1.6bn defamation lawsuit deposition that Trump’s claims were ‘damaging to everybody’

Newly released court documents reveal that Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Fox News, acknowledged under oath that several Fox News hosts endorsed Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

The mogul made the admission during a deposition in the $1.6bn defamation lawsuit brought against the network by the voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems, which has accused Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, of maligning its reputation. In his deposition, Murdoch said that the hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed” the false narrative promoted by Trump.

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Ron DeSantis takes control of Disney’s governing district after ‘don’t say gay’ row

Move comes after Florida governor lashed out at theme park’s protest of law restricting sexual orientation discussion in schools

The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has signed a bill that wrests control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district, in a move seen as punishing the company for its opposition to his so-called “don’t say gay” law.

“Today the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” he said at the bill signing in Lake Buena Vista in his trademark bullish style. “There’s a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day.”

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Marianne Williamson to run for president again to ‘help repair America’

Self-help author who brought quirky spiritualism to the 2020 presidential race becomes first Democrat to challenge Biden

Bestselling self-help author Marianne Williamson, who brought quirky spiritualism to the 2020 presidential race, has announced she’s running for the White House again, becoming the first major Democrat to challenge Joe Biden for his party’s nomination in 2024.

Williamson, 70, pulled out of the 2020 presidential election in early January of that year, after failing to gain much traction with primary voters. She then endorsed Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination and he ended up coming in second to Biden, who had been trailing him badly but surged ahead after a crucial win in South Carolina.

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Meta-funded online tool lets people remove their explicit images from the internet

Take It Down allows anyone to anonymously generate a digital fingerprint of the image they want deleted, without uploading it

“Once you send that photo, you can’t take it back,” goes the warning to teenagers, often ignoring the reality that many teens send explicit images of themselves under duress, or without understanding the consequences.

A new online tool aims to give some control back to teens, or people who were once teens, and take down explicit images and videos of themselves from the internet.

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West Virginia mixed martial arts coach offers security for local drag show

Johnny Haught and his trainees volunteered when a restaurant canceled a brunch event after performers received threats

A group of West Virginia mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters are offering security to help a local drag show that canceled an event after receiving threats.

MMA coach Johnny Haught and his trainees volunteered to provide security to the Primanti Bros restaurant in Wheeling, West Virginia, for the show it was set to host.

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Ohio toxic train derailment to face congressional scrutiny – as it happened

Democrats and Republicans in Senate and House have pledged to hold hearings on crash that has sparked major pollution fears

Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has made a surprise visit to Kyiv, where she’s underscoring Washington’s continued support for Ukraine one year after Russia invaded.

We at the Guardian have a separate live blog with all the latest Ukraine news, which you can follow along here.

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Biden administration under pressure as Israel-Palestine violence escalates

Advent of Israel’s most right-wing government, and spiralling violence, expose dangers of light-touch diplomacy

With an in-tray bulging with the war in Ukraine, the Chinese threat to Taiwan and the potential collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, the US state department has tried to avert its gaze from the clouds gathering over Israel and Palestine, but has now found it impossible to do so.

Since John Kerry, as secretary of state, expended diplomatic muscle trying to revive the Middle East peace process in the final year of the Obama administration, US Democrats have gently welcomed the rapprochement symbolised by the Abraham accords, but have not done much else. However, the advent of the most rightwing government in Israel’s history, and violence spiralling out of control, have shown the dangers of light-touch diplomacy.

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Elon Musk fires additional 200 people at Twitter, report says

According to the New York Times, the executive behind paid-for premium service revamp is among those affected

Elon Musk has fired another 200 staff at Twitter including the executive behind the revamp of its paid-for premium service, according to a report.

The latest round of job cuts equates to about 10% of Twitter’s vastly reduced workforce, which stood at 7,500 people before Musk bought the company in October.

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Ukrainian children orphaned by war ‘need a tremendous amount of help’

President of Los Angeles-based nonprofit Kidsave says Americans need to be made aware that Ukrainian needs go beyond military aid

Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine a little more than a year ago, some in the US have shown their support for the encroached country by volunteering to fight for it while others have called on politicians to equip the defenders with munitions and weapons.

Randi Thompson is calling on Americans to ponder another way: aiding efforts to place Ukrainian children orphaned by the Russian invasion in new families within their country.

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‘Far from justice’: why are nearly half of US murders going unsolved?

Homicide ‘clearance rates’ have plummeted over the past four decades, compounding relatives’ trauma

Every night since May, two-year-old Nylah Cheese has slept with a crocheted doll wearing a white tee, black pants and a silver chain. The toddler’s aunt, Silvia Lopez, had the figurine made in the likeness of Nylah’s father, Brandon Cheese, who was shot and killed at a park in San Francisco the month before.

“She instantly knew it was him and screamed, ‘It’s Dada!’” Lopez, Brandon Cheese’s older sister, said. The toddler has since named it “Dada doll”.

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Screen Actors Guild awards 2023: Everything Everywhere All at Once breaks record for wins

The multiverse adventure picked up four major categories, while The White Lotus and Abbott Elementary won big for television

Everything Everywhere All at Once reigned supreme at this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards, winning four major awards and breaking the record for most wins for a single film.

The multiverse fantasy film picked up the night’s biggest award for ensemble in a motion picture, female actor for Michelle Yeoh and both supporting actor awards, for Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan.

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Louisiana anti-abortion group calls on doctors to stop denying care exempted by ban

Group speaks out after hospitals refused to offer treatment for a woman who had a near deadly miscarriage citing ambiguous law

An influential group in Louisiana that has long opposed abortion access is calling out medical providers and their legal advisers who – for an apparent fear of liability – have cited the state’s ban on most abortions to deny treatments that remain legal.

The group spoke out after hospitals in the state’s capital, Baton Rouge, refused to provide treatments for a woman who had a near deadly miscarriage.

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RNC chair: candidates must sign loyalty pledge if they want to join 2024 debates

Ronna McDaniel says loyalty pledge by primary candidates should be a ‘no-brainer’ for party’s presidential hopefuls

The Republican National Committee’s chairperson has said that all GOP primary candidates should sign a pledge promising to support the eventual party nominee if they wish to participate in the presidential debates.

Ronna McDaniel, the RNC’s leader since 2017, told CNN in an interview Sunday that even though the debate criteria have not yet been released, the loyalty pledge should nevertheless be a “no-brainer” for the party’s presidential hopefuls.

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Covid-19 likely emerged from laboratory leak, US energy department says

Updated finding a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged and comes with ‘low confidence’

The virus which drove the Covid-19 pandemic most likely emerged from a laboratory leak but not as part of a weapons program, according to an updated and classified 2021 US energy department study provided to the White House and senior American lawmakers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The department’s finding – a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged – came in an update to a document from the office of National Intelligence director Avril Haines. It follows an FBI finding, issued with “moderate confidence”, that the virus spread after leaking out of a Chinese laboratory.

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