Israel military officers dismissed over death of Palestinian-American at checkpoint

Antony Blinken pressed to investigate West Bank death of 78-year-old who was handcuffed, gagged and left by soldiers last month

Israel’s military has said it is dismissing two officers and would reprimand a battalion commander over the death of a Palestinian-American at a West Bank checkpoint after he was stopped by Israeli troops.

The death of Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, who had lived in Milwaukee before retiring to his native village of Jiljilya, resulted from “a moral failure and poor decision-making”, it added.

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Biden says US is ‘ready no matter what happens’ as Russia escalates threat on Ukraine – as it happened

Donald Trump is being widely accused of “saying the quiet part loud”, when protesting that Mike Pence could have “overturned” his boss’s election defeat by Joe Biden.

Though he has appeared to admit Biden won before, Trump usually insists he won and his opponent stole the election through voter fraud – the “big lie” which animates rallies like one in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.

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Moscow warns Ukraine may ‘destroy itself’ as Russia and US clash at UN

At a UNSC meeting, Russian diplomat Vasily Nebenzya claimed Ukraine’s violation of the Minsk pact could end in ‘worst way’

Ukraine will be responsible for its own destruction if it undermines existing peace agreements, a senior Russian diplomat has warned at a UN security council debate on the crisis.

The warning from Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, during a combative council session, came on a day of continued high-level diplomacy aimed at defusing the Ukraine crisis. The state department confirmed it had received a response from Moscow to a document the US delivered in Moscow last week, formally outlining areas where the Biden administration believes the two countries could find common ground. US officials would not disclose the contents of the Russian letter, saying they would not “negotiate in public”.

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New York Times buys viral game Wordle for seven-figure sum

Creator Josh Wardle ‘thrilled’ that newspaper is taking over internet sensation

The New York Times has acquired the viral word game Wordle for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, the publisher announced on Monday.

Created by a Reddit engineer and launched in October, Wordle gives players just six guesses to determine a five-letter word that changes every day. The soothing daily puzzle has become a hit since its launch, quickly attracting hundreds of thousands, then millions, of players. Social media posts about its game of the day have become ubiquitous, along with screenshots of the game’s distinctive grid.

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US to target Putin’s inner circle with sanctions in event of Ukraine invasion

Washington official says sanctions list will comprise oligarchs and their family members

Washington and its allies have prepared a list of Russian elites in or near Vladimir Putin’s inner circle who would be hit with economic sanctions if the Kremlin were to order an invasion of Ukraine, according to a US briefing.

The language in the briefing by a US official to Reuters is notably similar to that used on Sunday by the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who said Britain would introduce legislation to allow banks, energy companies and “oligarchs close to the Kremlin” to be targeted by London, and makes clear the targeting is coordinated internationally.

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Kamala Harris drove within yards of pipe bomb on January 6 – report

Then vice-president elect remained inside DNC for nearly two hours before bomb was found, new details by CNN reveal

Kamala Harris, then vice-president elect, drove within yards of a pipe bomb left outside the Democratic National Committee on January 6 2021 and remained inside for nearly two hours before the bomb was found, it was reported on Monday.

Harris’s proximity to the bomb was known previously, but not how close or for how long. CNN reported the new details in the case, part of alarming events in Washington on the day Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s election victory over Donald Trump.

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Ukraine crisis live: face-off expected at UN security council meeting; US makes list of Russian elites to face sanctions

Washington to address ‘Russian aggression’, which Moscow dismisses as ‘PR stunt’; US prepares list of Russians linked to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle

The US and the UK, home to leading financial centres, are clearly gearing up to announce a coordinated effort to target members of the Russian elite with economic sanctions if the Kremlin orders an invasion of Ukraine.

The language from today’s US briefing – that economic sanctions will target Russian elite members “in or near the inner circles of the Kremlin” – is almost identical to that used by British foreign secretary Liz Truss on Sunday.

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Quiet part loud: Trump says Pence ‘could have overturned the election’

In statement protesting against reform of Electoral Count Act, ex-president appears to admit Joe Biden won

Donald Trump was accused of “saying the quiet part loud” on Sunday night, when he protested that Mike Pence, his former vice-president, could have overturned his election defeat by Joe Biden.

Though he has appeared to admit Biden won before, Trump usually insists he won and his opponent stole the election through voter fraud – the “big lie” which animates rallies like one in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.

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Teenager seeks $50k from Elon Musk to delete Twitter bot tracking private jet

In DM exchange Tesla boss offers $5,000 for takedown but 19-year-old replies: ‘Any chance to up that to $50K?’

A row has broken out between the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, and a 19-year-old student and aviation enthusiast from Florida.

Jack Sweeney created the Twitter bot @ElonJet, which tracks Musk’s Gulfstream private jet and posts real-time updates of its location.

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US urges North Korea to join direct talks after latest missile test by Pyongyang

  • Biden official: ‘We reiterate our call for diplomacy’
  • South Korean leader fears return to war threats of 2017

The US on Sunday made a direct appeal to North Korea to join direct talks with no preconditions about its nuclear and missile programs, after Pyongyang sent a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into space.

“We believe it is completely appropriate and completely correct to start having some serious discussions,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters.

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Joe Biden demands release of Mark Frerichs, US Afghanistan hostage

  • President marks second anniversary of engineer’s capture
  • Family says safe return should be Biden priority

Joe Biden on Sunday called for the release of Mark Frerichs, a US Navy veteran taken hostage in Afghanistan nearly two years ago.

Frerichs, a civil engineer and contractor from Lombard, Illinois, was kidnapped in January 2020 in the Afghan capital, Kabul. He is believed to be held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.

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Trump pardon promise for Capitol rioters ‘stuff of dictators’ – Nixon aide

  • Trump makes promise at rally in Texas on Saturday
  • John Dean: ‘Failure to confront tyrant encourages bad behavior’

Donald Trump’s promise to pardon supporters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6 2021 was “the stuff of dictators”, Richard Nixon’s White House counsel warned.

Trump made the promise at a rally in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday.

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Ruth Slenczynska: the pupil of Rachmaninov still releasing music at 97

Pianist who has played for five US presidents says great composer taught her to incorporate colour in music

The greatest lesson Ruth Slenczynska learned from the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov was that sounds have colour.

Nearly 90 years ago, the nine year-old Slenczynska was practising one of Rachmaninov’s preludes when he asked her to join him at the window. It was springtime in Paris, and the avenues were lined with mimosa trees laden with fluffy, golden blossoms.

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Seven in critical condition after Ohio hotel carbon monoxide poisoning

Nine people taken to hospital from Hampton Inn in Marysville as police say all affected had been in pool area

Seven people were hospitalized in critical condition after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning at a Hampton Inn in Ohio, officials said.

A total of nine people were taken to local hospitals, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The Marysville fire chief, Jay Riley, told the newspaper the source of the carbon monoxide was unclear but everyone who was hospitalized had been in the hotel’s pool area.

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Deep freeze for US east coast after nor’easter brings thick snow

Massachusetts sees power outages in worst of storm, with dangerous wind chills following in its wake

The US east coast fell into a deep freeze on Sunday, after a powerful nor’easter dumped mounds of snow, flooded coastlines and knocked out power to tens of thousands.

Dangerous wind chills were expected after the storm dumped snow from Virginia to Maine. The weather may have contributed to at least four deaths in New York, all on Long Island.

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Trump tours the country endorsing candidates to reinforce the ‘big lie’

As thousands turn out to hear the former president, midterm candidates vie for his backing by pushing ‘stolen’ election myth

On a chilly open field in Texas, Dan Patrick was delivering prepared remarks about the spectre of socialism when the crowd broke into a chant about the 2020 presidential election.

“Well, we all know who won in 2020, don’t we?” the state’s lieutenant governor ad-libbed. “Who won?” There was apparently not a soul who believes the answer is Joe Biden.

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Spit, screens and sneakers: the rise of the preacher-influencer

Michael Todd’s viral moment highlights pastors’ push to connect with an audience beyond the walls of the church

It was meant to be a sermon on the importance of having faith in God’s vision, even when that task seems difficult. An object lesson from the book of Mark, in which Jesus heals a blind man by spitting on his eyes. But it’s how Pastor Michael Todd brought this message home that made the sermon unforgettable.

Addressing congregants and a live-streaming audience, Todd placed one hand on the shoulder of a closed-eyed worshipper on stage before letting out a deep snort and twice hacking phlegm into his other hand. The audible gasps inside the Transformation Church, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based mega ministry rooted firmly in Black Baptist tradition, turned to full on outcry when Todd smeared said loogie on the worshipper’s face.

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Nor’easter lashes eastern US with snow and wind gusts near hurricane force

  • Philadelphia, New York and Boston in path of storm
  • Flooding, high winds and cold weather expected

A nor’easter with hurricane-force wind gusts battered much of the US east coast on Saturday, flinging heavy snow that made travel treacherous or impossible, flooding coastlines and threatening to leave bitter cold in its wake.

The storm thrashed parts of 10 states, with blizzard warnings from Virginia to Maine. Philadelphia and New York saw plenty of wind and snow, but Boston was in the crosshairs. The city could get more than 2ft of snow by early Sunday.

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Biden visits site of Pittsburgh bridge collapse and promises action with infrastructure law –as it happened

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin will host a joint press conference with joint chief of staff chair Mark Milley later today.

A 2019 law allowing anyone in Pennsylvania to vote by mail is unconstitutional, a state court ruled on Friday.

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Joe Biden visits Pittsburgh bridge, collapsed hours before infrastructure speech – video

Joe Biden visited the site where one of Pittsburgh’s major car bridges collapsed hours before speaking about it in an infrastructure schedule speech in Pennsylvania, on Friday.

At about 7am, the 477ft-long bridge on Forbes Avenue caved in, leaving a mass of concrete rubble and twisted metal as a visual metaphor for America’s crumbling infrastructure.

At least 10 people were injured, three taken to hospital, and a bus and several cars left stranded in the wreckage

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