Author: James Martin

America grapples with Trump’s role in insurrection after January 6 committee airs evidenceGood morning, US Politics blog readers. Yesterday evening, the January 6 committee released a slew of new evidence showing how Donald Trump acted during and in the run-up to the attack on the Capitol. If you missed the hearing, you can watch it here.The aftermath of those revelations will be one of today’s main stories, but that’s not all that’s going on:The labor department has released horrid inflation numbers that were worse than expected and sure to fuel public discontent with Joe Biden, whose approval is languishing at…

CNN  —  Moderna said on Wednesday its bivalent Covid-19 vaccine booster that contained a vaccine targeting the Omicron variant showed a stronger immune response against the variant. Bivalent boosters address two viral strains in the same vaccine. The updated booster contains Moderna’s original vaccine, and a vaccine candidate that targets the Omicron variant. The vaccine was generally well-tolerated, the company said, with side effects similar to booster doses of the current vaccine. The 50-microgram bivalent booster, called mRNA-1273.214, generated a stronger antibody response against Omicron than the original Moderna vaccine. Omicron subvariants are driving virtually all the new Covid-19 cases…

Placeholder while article actions loadEven allowing for Iran’s well-honed skill at shooting itself in the foot, its actions over the past couple of weeks have been exceptionally self-defeating. As a consequence, the regime in Tehran is more isolated that it has been in years, giving the Biden administration a golden opportunity to seize the advantage in nuclear negotiations.In its initial blunder, the regime in Tehran refused to give the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, satisfactory explanations for traces of uranium found in sites that Iran had failed to declare to the agency’s monitors. This made it inevitable that…

IKEA has partnered with electronic music giants Swedish House Mafia to release the new OBEGRÄNSAD (“unlimited” in Swedish) collection themed around music and creativity. The highlight so far is a surprisingly slick record player, which has Bluetooth speaker support and a minimalist design. IKEA has form for intriguing tech-homeware collaborations, having already launched music and lighting products in collaboration with Teenage Engineering just a few years ago. (I still have their tiki cups – I don’t know why the collection included tiki cups…) There’s also some furniture in the new line, including a desk for music production, complete with two…

(CNN) — The quality of Europe’s bathing waters has improved dramatically in recent decades, and a new report released this week by the European Environment Agency (EEA) reveals that almost 85% of its bathing sites now rank as “excellent.” The annual Bathing Water Report monitored nearly 22,000 inland and coastal swimming spots across EU member states, Albania and Switzerland in 2021. The UK, having left the EU, was absent from the report for the first time. The landlocked country of Austria, known for its many beautiful lakes including the Alpine waters of Achensee in Tyrol and the emerald-hued Weissensee in…

The British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, will raise the case of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces when she speaks with her Ukrainian counterpart.Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, have been convicted of taking action towards violent seizure of power at a court in the self-proclaimed republic in Donetsk.Truss has called it a “sham judgment” and said it had “absolutely no legitimacy”.She will speak about the matter during a phone call with Dmytro Kuleba later on Friday, the BBC said, while No 10 has said the men are entitled to combatant immunity as prisoners of war.Truss…

Placeholder while article actions loadPitching Cazoo Group Ltd. as the “Carvana of Europe” seemed a shrewd move when serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman was shopping his online used-car dealer to investors last year. It doesn’t look so clever now.Initially, his decision to shun the London market in favor of a SPAC listing on the New York Stock Exchange paid off handsomely. Cazoo obtained a whopping $7 billion valuation, a stunning amount for a business launched in December 2019 and one certainly helped by U.S. muse Carvana Co.’s then-$60 billion market capitalization.These companies’ business of allowing consumers to purchase a car with a few mouse…

Nintendo has been boosting its Switch Online retro library at a fast pace, recently adding Congo’s Caper, Rival Turf and Kirby 64. Now with version 3.3.0, it’s adding three more Kirby titles, all special SP versions with secret modes unlocked: Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Dream Land 3 and Kirby’s Dream Course. Kirby Super Star originally launched on Super NES with eight side-scrolling platform games, including two minigames. Secret modes available include Meta Knight, Milky Way Wishes and the Arena. SNES platformer Kirby’s Dream Land 3, meanwhile, includes extra options like Play Extra Course and the Dance Select option. Finally, with…

Tony Smith has made a single change to the 21-man squad for the club’s game with St Helens. Utility-man Sam Wood is back in the fold after dislocating his patella in last month’s defeat to Leeds Rhinos. Wood, who recently signed a year extension with the Robins, has the versatility to play in the outside-backs or second-row. However, Smith said in his recent press conference that he might opt to give the former Huddersfield man another week to recuperate. But if he is fit, he is likely to feature on Sunday. Korbin Sims is the only casualty from the previous…

Editor’s Note — Sign up to CNN Travel’s Unlocking Italy newsletter for insider intel on Italy’s best loved destinations and lesser-known regions to plan your ultimate trip. Plus, we’ll get you in the mood before you go with movie suggestions, reading lists and recipes from Stanley Tucci.(CNN) — Italy has in recent years sold off hundreds of dilapidated homes for next to nothing, thanks to schemes to attract new residents triggering a wave of regeneration for rural communities.For one man, buying a single house wasn’t enough. He bought an entire village. Scottish businessman Cesidio Di Ciacca has just finished renovating…