More stories

  • in

    Tufts student detained for writing op-ed denied bail by US immigration judge

    A Turkish PhD student and former Fulbright scholar detained after co-authoring a campus newspaper op-ed about Gaza has been denied bond by an immigration judge, as her legal team continues to urgently petition a federal court in Vermont for her release.Rümeysa Öztürk, who had been studying at Tufts University, was seized by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents on 25 March near her home in Massachusetts and shuttled through three states before landing in a Louisiana detention facility – all without being charged with any crime.An immigration judge denied bond on Wednesday, ruling Öztürk was both a “flight risk” and a “danger to the community” despite the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) only arguing the flight risk aspect, according to the petition filed by her legal team later that night.According to the documents, the DHS case against Öztürk in immigration court consists solely of a “one-paragraph Department of State memorandum” that revoked her visa, citing her co-authorship of an op-ed that had “found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus”.“They don’t even show anything more than what was published in the op-ed,” said Esha Bhandari, an attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing Öztürk in federal court. “It’s fully constitutionally protected speech, no crimes at all … If this is allowed, anyone could be punished for anything they say.”Her federal attorneys are asking a federal judge to order her immediate release – which would supersede the immigration judge’s detention order – or, at minimum, to return her to detention in Vermont by Friday. They have also requested her federal case be expedited to 23 April, or the earliest available date.“It’s simply unconstitutional to keep her in detention for this,” Bhandari said. “We think that the court can decide it on the papers under the governing legal standards, but if it wants to hold a hearing, we’re asking for a hearing later in April. Time is of the essence; Rümeysa’s health is not well in detention.”Wednesday’s court filings from Öztürk’s legal team documented six asthma attacks since her detention began, with officers dismissing one episode as “all in her mind” while medical staff reportedly provided no treatment.Öztürk is among a long list of individuals connected to US universities who have had their visas revoked or been denied entry to the United States after the Trump administration’s aggressive stance in targeting pro-Palestine demonstrations or expressing public support for Palestinians. A Louisiana immigration judge similarly authorized the deportation of the Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, accepting the federal government’s assertion that he represents a national security risk.In late March, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, boasted that the state department had canceled at least 300 student visas related to pro-Palestinian protests, and that number has more than doubled since.When it comes to the visa termination process, Bhandari said that Öztürk, like other similarly targeted individuals, had “no opportunity to protect their rights” before the government changed their legal statuses. More

  • in

    Cory Booker to visit El Salvador in effort to return wrongly deported man to US

    Cory Booker plans to travel to El Salvador, a source familiar with the New Jersey senator’s itinerary said, as Democrats seek to pressure the Trump administration to return a wrongly deported Maryland resident.Booker’s trip to the Central American country would come after the Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen traveled there this week to meet with his constituent Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadorian national deported last month in what the Trump administration acknowledged was an “administrative error”. Despite a supreme court ruling saying his administration must “facilitate” Ábrego García’s return, Trump has refused to take steps to do so, and El Salvador’s government on Wednesday denied Van Hollen a meeting with the deportee.Ábrego García’s case has become a rallying cry for Democrats, who argue it is a sign of Donald Trump’s reckless approach to immigration enforcement and willingness to defy court orders. An immigration judge in 2019 had given Ábrego García protection from deportation, finding that he may face retaliation if he returns to El Salvador.Booker wrote on X earlier this week: “The Supreme Court was clear: the Trump administration must act to facilitate the return of Kilmar Ábrego García to the United States. There is no room for debate – yet Trump is refusing, in defiance of a lawful court order.“Every member of Congress should be standing up for the Constitution and demanding that the administration act to return Mr. Ábrego García to the U.S. and to his family.”Trump administration officials have countered by accusing Democrats of caring more about undocumented immigrants than US citizens. On Monday, the Republican congressman Riley Moore toured El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), where US authorities say Ábrego García is being held, and gave a thumbs up in front of a cell packed with inmates.Several other Democratic lawmakers have signaled they would like to visit El Salvador and Cecot, including Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic caucus, and Robert Garcia, Yassamin Ansari and Maxwell Alejandro Frost, all members of the investigative House oversight committee. Delia Ramirez of the House homeland security committee has also asked for a visit to Cecot.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBooker, who ran for president in 2020 and is viewed as a potential candidate again three years from now, has been particularly outspoken against Trump. Earlier this month, he delivered a speech from the Senate floor warning of the “grave and urgent” danger presented by his presidency that ran for 25 hours and five minutes – the longest such speech ever. More

  • in

    ‘All of his guns will do nothing for him’: lefty preppers are taking a different approach to doomsday

    @font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive{margin-left:160px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column–interactive{margin-left:240px}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-atom{max-width:620px}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-atom{max-width:100%}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-showcase{margin-left:0}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-showcase{max-width:620px}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-showcase{max-width:860px}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{max-width:1100px}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{width:calc(100vw – var(–scrollbar-width));position:relative;left:50%;right:50%;margin-left:calc(-50vw + var(–half-scrollbar-width))!important;margin-right:calc(-50vw + var(–half-scrollbar-width))!important}}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{transform:translate(-20px);width:calc(100% + 60px)}}@media (max-width: 71.24em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{margin-left:0;margin-right:0}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{transform:translate(0);width:auto}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column–interactive .element-immersive{max-width:1260px}}.content__main-column–interactive p{color:#121212;max-width:620px}.content__main-column–interactive ul{max-width:620px}.content__main-column–interactive:before{position:absolute;top:0;height:calc(100% + 15px);min-height:100px;content:””}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive:before{border-left:1px solid #dcdcdc;z-index:-1;left:-10px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column–interactive:before{border-left:1px solid #dcdcdc;left:-11px}}.content__main-column–interactive .element-atom{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-bottom:12px;padding-top:12px}.content__main-column–interactive p+.element-atom{padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:12px}.content__main-column–interactive .element-inline{max-width:620px}@media (min-width: 61.25em){figure[data-spacefinder-role=inline].element{max-width:620px}}:root{–dateline: #606060;–headerBorder: #dcdcdc;–captionText: #999;–captionBackground: hsla(0, 0%, 7%, .72);–feature: #c70000;–new-pillar-colour: var(–primary-pillar, var(–feature))}.content__main-column–interactive .element.element-atom,.element.element-atom{padding:0}#article-body >div .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type,#article-body >div .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,#article-body >div .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,.content–interactive >div .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type,.content–interactive >div .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,.content–interactive >div .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,#comment-body .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type,#comment-body .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,#comment-body .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,[data-gu-name=body] .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type,[data-gu-name=body] .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,[data-gu-name=body] .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,#feature-body .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type,#feature-body .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type,#feature-body .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type{padding-top:14px}#article-body >div .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#article-body >div .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#article-body >div .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,.content–interactive >div .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,.content–interactive >div .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,.content–interactive >div .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#comment-body .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#comment-body .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#comment-body .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,[data-gu-name=body] .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,[data-gu-name=body] .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,[data-gu-name=body] .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#feature-body .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#feature-body .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,#feature-body .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter{font-family:Guardian Headline,Guardian Egyptian Web,Guardian Headline Full,Georgia,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:111px;line-height:92px;float:left;text-transform:uppercase;box-sizing:border-box;margin-right:8px;vertical-align:text-top;color:var(–drop-cap, var(–new-pillar-colour))}#maincontent .element.element–showcase.element-showcase figcaption,#feature-article-container .element.element–showcase.element-showcase figcaption,#standard-article-container .element.element–showcase.element-showcase figcaption,#comment-article-container .element.element–showcase.element-showcase figcaption{position:static!important;width:100%;max-width:620px}.element.element–immersive.element-immersive{width:calc(100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px))}@media (max-width: 71.24em){.element.element–immersive.element-immersive{max-width:978px}.element.element–immersive.element-immersive figcaption{padding-inline:10px}}@media (max-width: 71.24em) and (min-width: 30em){.element.element–immersive.element-immersive figcaption{padding-inline:20px}}@media (min-width: 46.25em) and (max-width: 61.24em){.element.element–immersive.element-immersive{max-width:738px}}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.element.element–immersive.element-immersive{margin-left:-10px!important;margin-right:0!important;left:0}}@media (max-width: 46.24em) and (min-width: 30em){.element.element–immersive.element-immersive{margin-left:-20px!important}.element.element–immersive.element-immersive figcaption{padding-inline:20px}}.furniture-wrapper{position:relative}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper{display:grid;grid-column-gap:20px;grid-row-gap:0px;grid-template-columns:[title-start headline-start meta-start standfirst-start] repeat(5,1fr) [title-end headline-end meta-end standfirst-end portrait-start] repeat(5,1fr) [portrait-end];grid-template-rows:[title-start portrait-start] .25fr [title-end headline-start] 1fr [headline-end standfirst-start] .75fr [standfirst-end meta-start] auto [meta-end portrait-end]}.furniture-wrapper #headline >div:first-child,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] >div:first-child,.furniture-wrapper .headline >div:first-child{border-top:1px solid var(–headerBorder)}.furniture-wrapper #meta,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]{position:relative;padding-top:2px;margin-right:0}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst .content__standfirst,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst .content__standfirst,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] .content__standfirst{margin-bottom:4px}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst ul li,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst ul li,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] ul li{font-size:20px}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst li a,.furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst li a,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] li a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] a{border-bottom:none;background-image:none!important;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:6px;text-decoration-color:var(–headerBorder, #DCDCDC)}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst li a:hover,.furniture-wrapper .standfirst a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst li a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] li a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] a:hover{text-decoration-color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p:first-of-type{border-top:1px solid var(–headerBorder);padding-bottom:0}}@media (min-width: 61.25em) and (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p:first-of-type{border-top:unset}}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper figure{margin:0 0 0 -10px}.furniture-wrapper figure[data-spacefinder-role=inline].element{max-width:630px}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper{grid-template-columns:[title-start headline-start meta-start] repeat(2,1fr) [meta-end standfirst-start] repeat(5,1fr) [title-end headline-end standfirst-end portrait-start] repeat(7,1fr) [portrait-end];grid-template-rows:[title-start portrait-start] 80px [title-end headline-start] auto [headline-end standfirst-start meta-start] auto [standfirst-end meta-end portrait-end]}.furniture-wrapper #meta:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before{content:””;width:540px;position:absolute;top:0;background-color:var(–headerBorder);height:1px}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p{border-top:unset}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]:before{content:””;width:1px;background-color:var(–headerBorder);height:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:.5px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.furniture-wrapper{grid-template-columns:[title-start headline-start meta-start] repeat(3,1fr) [meta-end standfirst-start] repeat(5,1fr) [title-end headline-end standfirst-end portrait-start] repeat(8,1fr) [portrait-end];grid-template-rows:[title-start portrait-start] .25fr [title-end headline-start] 1fr [headline-end standfirst-start meta-start] .75fr [standfirst-end meta-end portrait-end]}.furniture-wrapper #meta:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before{width:620px}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]:before{left:-.5px}}.furniture-wrapper .article-header .content__labels >div,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] .content__labels >div{padding-top:2px}.furniture-wrapper #headline h1,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] h1,.furniture-wrapper .headline h1{font-weight:600;max-width:620px;font-size:32px}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper #headline h1,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] h1,.furniture-wrapper .headline h1{max-width:540px;font-size:50px}}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.furniture-wrapper .keyline-4,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=lines]{margin-right:0}}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper .keyline-4,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=lines]{display:none}}.furniture-wrapper .keyline-4 svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=lines] svg{stroke:var(–headerBorder)}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.furniture-wrapper #meta,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]{margin-right:0}}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social ul li a span,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__comment,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social ul li a span,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__comment{border-color:var(–headerBorder)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .content__meta-container_dcr >div >gu-island,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .content__meta-container_dcr >div >gu-island{display:none}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]{margin-left:-10px;padding-left:10px;position:relative}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.furniture-wrapper .standfirst,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]{padding-top:2px}}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p{font-weight:400;font-size:20px;padding-bottom:14px}.furniture-wrapper figure{position:relative;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:2px;grid-area:portrait}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper figure{margin-bottom:0}}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.furniture-wrapper figure{width:calc(100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px));margin-left:-10px}}@media (max-width: 46.24em) and (min-width: 30em){.furniture-wrapper figure{margin-left:-20px}}.furniture-wrapper figcaption{position:absolute;bottom:0;padding:4px 10px 12px;background-color:var(–captionBackground);color:var(–captionText);max-width:unset;width:100%;margin-bottom:0;min-height:46px}.furniture-wrapper figcaption span{color:var(–headerBorder)}.furniture-wrapper figcaption span svg{fill:var(–headerBorder)}.furniture-wrapper figcaption span:nth-of-type(1){display:none}.furniture-wrapper figcaption span:nth-of-type(2){display:block;max-width:90%}@media (min-width: 30em){.furniture-wrapper figcaption{padding:4px 20px 12px}}.furniture-wrapper figcaption.hidden{opacity:0}.furniture-wrapper #caption-button{display:block;position:absolute;bottom:10px;right:8px;z-index:100;background-color:var(–captionBackground);border:none;border-radius:50%;padding:6px 5px 5px}.furniture-wrapper #caption-button svg{transform:scale(.85)}@media (min-width: 30em){.furniture-wrapper #caption-button{right:10px}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column–interactive:before{top:-12px!important;height:calc(100% + 24px)!important}}.content__main-column–interactive h2{max-width:620px}:root{–new-pillar-colour: var(–darkmode-pillar, var(–darkModeFeature)) !important;–headerBorderColor: #606060;–darkModeFeature: #ff5943}nav+section{display:none}nav+aside{display:none}aside+section{display:none}.furniture-wrapper{background-color:var(–darkBackground);margin:0 -10px;padding:0 10px 4px}@media (min-width: 30em){.furniture-wrapper{margin:0 -20px;padding:0 20px 8px}}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper{padding:0 20px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.furniture-wrapper:before{content:””;width:calc((100vw – 1298px)/2);height:100%;position:absolute;left:calc((100vw – 1298px)/-2);background-color:var(–darkBackground);border-right:1px solid var(–headerBorderColor)}.furniture-wrapper:after{content:””;width:calc((100vw – 1298px)/2);height:100%;position:absolute;right:calc((100vw – 1298px)/-2);background-color:var(–darkBackground)}}.furniture-wrapper .article-header,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] span{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper #headline >div:first-child,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] >div:first-child,.furniture-wrapper .headline >div:first-child{border-top:1px solid var(–headerBorderColor)}}.furniture-wrapper #headline h1,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] h1,.furniture-wrapper .headline h1{font-weight:700;color:#dcdcdc}.furniture-wrapper #headline figure,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] figure,.furniture-wrapper .headline figure{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:2px}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper #meta:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before{background-color:var(–headerBorderColor)}}.furniture-wrapper #meta details,.furniture-wrapper #meta summary,.furniture-wrapper #meta summary span,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] details,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] summary,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] summary span{color:#dcdcdc}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button{border-color:var(–headerBorderColor);color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a svg,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button svg{fill:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button:hover{color:var(–darkBackground);background-color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a:hover svg,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button:hover svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a:hover svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button:hover svg{fill:var(–darkBackground)}.furniture-wrapper #meta div,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] div{color:#dcdcdc}.furniture-wrapper #meta a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a:hover{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature);text-decoration-color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,.furniture-wrapper .standfirst li a,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst a,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst li a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] li a{border-bottom:none;color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature);background-image:none!important;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:6px;text-decoration-color:var(–headerBorder, #DCDCDC)}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst a:hover,.furniture-wrapper .standfirst li a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst li a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] li a:hover{border-bottom:none;text-decoration-color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p{color:#dcdcdc}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p:first-of-type{border-top:1px solid var(–headerBorderColor)}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper .standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst p:first-of-type,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] p:first-of-type{border-top:unset}}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst ul li,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst ul li,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] ul li{color:#dcdcdc}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper .standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst]:before{background-color:var(–headerBorderColor)}}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.furniture-wrapper:before{content:””;height:100%;top:0;position:absolute;background-color:var(–darkBackground);border-right:1px solid var(–headerBorderColor);left:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 738px) / -2);width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 738px) / 2)}.furniture-wrapper:after{content:””;height:100%;top:0;position:absolute;background-color:var(–darkBackground);border-left:1px solid var(–headerBorderColor);right:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 738px) / -2);width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 738px) / 2)}}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper:before{content:””;width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 978px) / 2);left:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 978px) / -2)}.furniture-wrapper:after{content:””;width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 978px) / 2);right:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 978px) / -2)}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper:before{content:””;width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1138px) / 2);left:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1138px) / -2)}.furniture-wrapper:after{content:””;width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1138px) / 2);right:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1138px) / -2)}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.furniture-wrapper:before{content:””;width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1298px) / 2);left:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1298px) / -2)}.furniture-wrapper:after{content:””;width:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1298px) / 2);right:calc((100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px) – 1298px) / -2)}}.furniture-wrapper .keyline-4 svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=lines] svg{stroke:var(–headerBorderColor)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social ul li a span,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__comment,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social ul li a span,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__comment{border-color:var(–headerBorderColor)}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:400;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:500;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}:root:has(.ios,.android){–darkBackground: #1a1a1a;–feature: #c70000;–darkmodeFeature: #ff5943;–new-pillar-colour: var(–primary-pillar, var(–feature))}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){:root:has(.ios,.android){–new-pillar-colour: var(–darkmode-pillar, var(–darkmodeFeature))}}body.ios #feature-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+.sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container .element-atom:first-of-type+#sign-in-gate+p:first-of-type:first-letter{color:var(–secondary-pillar, #000)}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__header,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__header,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__header,body.android #feature-article-container .article__header,body.android #standard-article-container .article__header,body.android #comment-article-container .article__header{height:0}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper{padding:4px 10px 0}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels{font-weight:700;font-family:Guardian Headline,Guardian Egyptian Web,Guardian Headline Full,Georgia,serif;color:var(–new-pillar-colour);text-transform:capitalize}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline{font-size:32px;font-weight:700;padding-bottom:12px;color:#121212!important}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image{position:relative;margin:14px 0 0 -10px;width:calc(100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px));height:auto}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image .figure__inner,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image img,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image .figure__inner,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image img,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image .figure__inner,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image img,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image .figure__inner,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image img,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image .figure__inner,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image img,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image .figure__inner,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image img,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image a{background-color:transparent;width:calc(100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px));height:auto!important}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst{padding-top:4px;padding-bottom:24px;margin-right:-10px}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner p,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner p,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner p,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner p,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner p,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner p{font-family:Guardian Headline,Guardian Egyptian Web,Guardian Headline Full,Georgia,serif}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a{color:var(–new-pillar-colour)!important;background-image:none!important;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:6px;text-decoration-color:var(–headerBorder, #DCDCDC);border-bottom:none}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a:hover,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a:hover,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a:hover,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a:hover,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a:hover,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a:hover,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a:hover,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a:hover,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a:hover,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a:hover,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner li a:hover,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst__inner a:hover{text-decoration-color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta{margin:0}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .meta__byline span,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .meta__byline span,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .meta__byline span,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .meta__byline span,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .meta__byline span,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .meta__byline span{color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc{padding:0}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg{stroke:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .element–showcase #caption-button,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .element–showcase #caption-button,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .element–showcase #caption-button,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .element–showcase #caption-button,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .element–showcase #caption-button,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .element–showcase #caption-button{display:flex;padding:5px;justify-content:center;align-items:center;width:28px;height:28px;right:14px}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body{padding:0 12px}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive),body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive),body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive),body.android #feature-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive),body.android #standard-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive),body.android #comment-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive){margin:0;width:calc(100vw – 24px – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px));height:auto}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive) figcaption,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive) figcaption,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive) figcaption,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive) figcaption,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive) figcaption,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body figure.element-image:not(.element–thumbnail):not(.element–immersive) figcaption{padding:0}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body figure.element-image.element-immersive,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body figure.element-image.element-immersive,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body figure.element-image.element-immersive,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body figure.element-image.element-immersive,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body figure.element-image.element-immersive,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body figure.element-image.element-immersive{width:calc(100vw – var(–scrollbar-width, 0px))}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before{color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a{color:var(–new-pillar-colour);background-image:none;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:6px;text-decoration-color:var(–headerBorder)}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover{text-decoration-color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper{background-color:#1a1a1a}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels{color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline{background-color:unset;color:var(–headerBorder)!important}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst p,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst p{color:var(–headerBorder)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta .byline__author,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta span.byline__author a{color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta__misc svg{stroke:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image.element–showcase figcaption,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image.element–showcase figcaption,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image.element–showcase figcaption,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image.element–showcase figcaption,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image.element–showcase figcaption,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper figure.element-image.element–showcase figcaption{color:var(–dateline)}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted{color:var(–new-pillar-colour)}body.ios #feature-article-container #article-body >div,body.ios #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div,body.ios #feature-article-container #feature-body,body.ios #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body],body.ios #feature-article-container #comment-body,body.ios #standard-article-container #article-body >div,body.ios #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div,body.ios #standard-article-container #feature-body,body.ios #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body],body.ios #standard-article-container #comment-body,body.ios #comment-article-container #article-body >div,body.ios #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div,body.ios #comment-article-container #feature-body,body.ios #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body],body.ios #comment-article-container #comment-body,body.android #feature-article-container #article-body >div,body.android #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div,body.android #feature-article-container #feature-body,body.android #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body],body.android #feature-article-container #comment-body,body.android #standard-article-container #article-body >div,body.android #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div,body.android #standard-article-container #feature-body,body.android #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body],body.android #standard-article-container #comment-body,body.android #comment-article-container #article-body >div,body.android #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div,body.android #comment-article-container #feature-body,body.android #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body],body.android #comment-article-container #comment-body{background-color:var(–darkBackground)!important}body.ios #feature-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #feature-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #standard-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.ios #comment-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #feature-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #standard-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #article-body >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container .content–interactive >div .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #feature-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container [data-gu-name=body] .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+.sign-in-gate+p:first-letter,body.android #comment-article-container #comment-body .element-atom+#sign-in-gate+p:first-letter{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, #ffffff)}}body.ios.garnett–type-comment #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst,body.android.garnett–type-comment #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .standfirst{padding-top:24px;margin-top:0}.prose h2{font-size:24px}body.ios #feature-article-container #caption-button,body.ios #standard-article-container #caption-button,body.ios #comment-article-container #caption-button{padding:6px 5px 0}body.android #feature-article-container #caption-button,body.android #standard-article-container #caption-button,body.android #comment-article-container #caption-button{padding:4px 4px 0}:root{–darkBackground: #1a1a1a}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__header,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__header,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__header,body.android #feature-article-container .article__header,body.android #standard-article-container .article__header,body.android #comment-article-container .article__header{opacity:0!important}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper{margin:0}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .content__labels{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper h1.headline{color:#dcdcdc!important}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .article-header a,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .article-header a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .article-header a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .article-header a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .article-header a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .article-header a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta:before,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta:before,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta:before,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta:before,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta:before,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta:before,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before{background-image:repeating-linear-gradient(var(–headerBorderColor),var(–headerBorderColor) 1px,transparent 1px,transparent 3px)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .byline,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .byline,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .byline,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .byline,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .byline,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .byline,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .byline,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .byline,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .byline,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .byline,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .byline,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .byline{color:#dcdcdc}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta a,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta a,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta a,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta a,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta a,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta a,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc svg,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__misc svg,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc svg,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__misc svg,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc svg,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__misc svg,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc svg,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__misc svg,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc svg,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__misc svg,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc svg,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__misc svg{stroke:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .alerts__label,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .alerts__label,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .alerts__label,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .alerts__label,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .alerts__label,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .alerts__label,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .alerts__label,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .alerts__label,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .alerts__label,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .alerts__label,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .alerts__label,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .alerts__label{color:#dcdcdc!important}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon],body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon],body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon],body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon],body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon],body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon],body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon],body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon],body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon],body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon],body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon],body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon]{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon]:before,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon]:before,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon]:before,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon]:before,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon]:before,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon]:before,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon]:before,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon]:before,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon]:before,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon]:before,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta span[data-icon]:before,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] span[data-icon]:before{color:var(–new-pillar-colour, –darkModeFeature)}@media (min-width: 71.25em){body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4{display:block;border-top:1px solid var(–new-pillar-colour, var(–headerBorderColor))}body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc,body.ios #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4 .meta__misc,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc,body.ios #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4 .meta__misc,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc,body.ios #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4 .meta__misc,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc,body.android #feature-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4 .meta__misc,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc,body.android #standard-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4 .meta__misc,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__misc,body.android #comment-article-container .furniture-wrapper .meta.keyline-4 .meta__misc{margin:unset;margin-left:20px}}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body p,body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body ul,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body p,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body ul,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body p,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body ul,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body p,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body ul,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body p,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body ul,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body p,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body ul{max-width:620px}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before{color:var(–secondary-pillar)}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a{color:var(–darkmode-pillar);background-image:none;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:6px;text-decoration-color:#dcdcdc}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover{background-image:none;text-decoration-color:var(–secondary-pillar)}@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark){body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose blockquote.quoted:before{color:var(–darkmode-pillar)}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a{color:var(–darkmode-pillar)}body.ios #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.ios #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.ios #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #feature-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #standard-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover,body.android #comment-article-container .article__body .prose a:hover{text-decoration-color:var(–darkmode-pillar)}}

    View image in fullscreenOne afternoon in February, hoping to survive the apocalypse or at least avoid finding myself among its earliest victims, I logged on to an online course entitled Ruggedize Your Life: The Basics.Some of my classmates had activated their cameras. I scrolled through the little windows, noting the alarmed faces, downcast in cold laptop light. There were dozens of us on the call, including a geophysicist, an actor, a retired financial adviser and a civil engineer. We all looked worried, and rightly so. The issue formerly known as climate change was now a polycrisis called climate collapse. H1N1 was busily jumping from birds to cows to people. And with each passing day, as Donald Trump went about gleefully dismantling state capacity, the promise of a competent government response to the next hurricane, wildfire, flood, pandemic, drought, mudslide, heatwave, financial meltdown, hailstorm or other calamity receded further from view.Our two-hour live video session was taught by Alex Steffen, a 56-year-old author, speaker, podcaster and “foresight consultant”, who was addressing us from his home in the Bay Area.For many years, Steffen worked as an environmental reporter. He wrote several acclaimed books that explored technological solutions to the climate crisis, served as “futurist in residence” at the design firm IDEO, and taped a couple Ted Talks, gradually gaining a reputation as one of the foremost thinkers on the sustainability circuit. Meanwhile, he watched in horror as the window for action narrowed and governments and institutions dithered. “I still find it staggering and heart-rending that we blew this so badly,” he said in an interview.Having eventually concluded that the worst consequences of a heating climate had become inevitable, Steffen made a pivot. He now advises individuals, as well as businesses and localities, on how to gird themselves for impact. Interest in his classes and one-on-one consultations had roughly doubled every year since 2021, he said, and he expected 2,000 participants this year.Steffen bucks the image of the prototypical end times prepper, most of whom are creatures of the right. Emerging in the 1950s, preppers were animated by a variety of often overlapping fears: some were troubled by the increasingly networked, and therefore fragile, nature of contemporary life. Others perceived a divine warning in biblical references to the Tribulation, the ultimate scriptural nightmare fuel. Still others, alarmed by the superpower brinkmanship of the cold war, sought a refuge from nuclear annihilation. Finally, there was the widespread conviction that the turbulence of the 1960s presaged a full-blown civil war. Kurt Saxon, the author often credited with inventing the term “survivalist” in the mid-1970s, had been a member of the American Nazi party and the John Birch Society, and the need to guard against a vaguely racialized horde animates some of his writings.Originally known as “retreaters” (a term Saxon rejected due to its association with weakness), early adopters of what we now think of as the prepper philosophy went off-grid; hoarded provisions, firearms and ammunition, and sometimes constructed hidden bunkers. They championed individual fortitude over collective welfare. Wary of being vilified as violent crackpots (not to mention one day finding a throng of desperate neighbors banging on their steel-reinforced concrete door), many kept their hobby secret. As a result, researchers have long struggled to quantify the movement’s reach.Prepperism took a reputational hit in the 1990s, when it was linked with the militia movement, along with incidents such as the deadly standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing. But it re-emerged with renewed force after 9/11, the first assault by a foreign adversary on the US homeland in decades. Among the many casualties of the World Trade Center attack was Americans’ long-unquestioned sense of safety. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, George W Bush’s assertion that his Fema director was “doing a heck of a job” – even as thousands of storm refugees huddled in the Superdome without food or water – seemed to validate a central pillar of the prepper ethos: relying on government was the height of folly.View image in fullscreenIn the ensuing years, the philosophy went mainstream, fueling radio shows and YouTube channels as well as an ecosystem of regional conventions and wilderness survival trainings. Meanwhile, Americans began devouring survival-oriented programming, from Lost and The Walking Dead to Doomsday Preppers and Naked and Afraid, which played to our darkest eschatological nightmares. Though accurate demographic figures on preppers remain elusive, surveys taken after the worst of the Covid pandemic suggest that more than 20 million Americans are now taking steps to prepare for cataclysm – assembling go-bags and stocking up on food, water and first aid supplies – more than double the estimated number in 2017.Not all of them are conservatives. Liberals make up about 15% of the prepping scene, according to one estimate, and their numbers appear to be growing.One private Facebook group dedicated to preparedness for liberals has more than tripled in size since the election. Here, one finds no tradwife panegyrics, gun porn or “TEOTWAWKI” (the End of the World as We Know It) merch. Instead, participants offer advice on maintaining one’s online anonymity under a potential fascist regime, advocate the stockpiling of anxiety meds and reading material (ahead of expected bans), and debate the moral dilemma of buying a first aid kit from a company that caters to law enforcement. Liberal preparedness podcasters and newsletter writers I spoke to also reported a notable uptick in subscribers since Trump’s election.Liberal preppers differ from their rightwing counterparts because the calamities they anticipate have different characteristics. Rightwing bugbears like civil unrest and globalist tyranny lead to a focus on the stockpiling of weapons to defend one’s property and family from hostile adversaries. But concerns about global heating point to different notions of readiness. Climate breakdown – the destabilization of the entire ecological system on which our lives depend – is not a fleeting crisis one can ride out with a well-stocked arsenal and a few pallets from Costco. As Margaret Killjoy, who launched the prominent anarchist-prepper podcast Live Like the World Is Dying at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, put it: “There’s not much preparedness you can do for the end of the world.”While Steffen, who considers himself “moderately progressive”, believes it’s only prudent to have a reserve of basic items – water, food, medical supplies and the like – on hand in case of emergencies, his approach to preparedness differs markedly from the version promoted on the right. “I would put to you that if you find yourself in a situation where you’re having to let off some rounds to protect your canned goods, you’ve already failed,” he told our class. “You have not understood the assignment.”Eric Shonkwiler, author of the When/If newsletter, which focuses on prepperism with a leftist spin, agreed. “The first time this guy in his Maga hat falls down the stairs and breaks his leg and it gets gangrenous and neither him nor anyone in his family are doctors, he’s done,” Shonkwiler predicted. “And that’s a month into the apocalypse, and all of his guns did nothing for him.”For Steffen and other preppers on the left, threat analysis begins with an understanding of network effects: how various social and economic systems work together to support our ongoing survival, or undermine it. Bald and bespectacled, with headphone wires dangling from his ears, he explained that the effects of climate collapse will be experienced as a series of localized disasters – flooding here, wildfire there – each requiring planning and forethought.“Every piece of infrastructure, every home, every community, every business, every industry, was built to work in a world that no longer exists,” he told us, adding that this ever-widening gap will be “ripping through every single person’s life”.Steffen’s prescription was “ruggedization”, a term borrowed from the military. Ruggedization, he explained, was “the design of a system such that it can take unexpected punishment and retain its core functions”. Its opposite he termed brittleness – “the condition of a thing being subject to sudden failure”. Our primary goal ahead of climate chaos was to recognize brittleness in the systems around us – from failing infrastructure to political ineptitude – and either remedy it or avoid it altogether.Steffen shared a map on the screen of the US Climate Vulnerability Index, which is operated by the Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University, and noted that some places would be harder hit than others. “If I lived there,” he told the class, referring to the Gulf and the south-eastern coast, exceptionally high-risk areas, “I would already be thinking about how to get out.” Extreme heat will make much of the Sun belt inhospitable as well, and if the Atlantic meridional ocean current, or Amoc, collapses, as some models predict, New England could soon look more like Siberia.As the reality of climate collapse hits home, those with the means to do so will beeline for safer locales, Steffen predicted. (Though is anywhere really safe? Sleepy Duluth, Minnesota, for example, had been identified as an especially attractive destination before a “generational storm” associated with warmer temperatures destroyed 100,000 acres of forest around the city and knocked out power for tens of thousands of residents in the area.) “Some very smart people believe it is going to be the largest human migration in history,” he said. While his $149 introductory course is short on specifics, he also offers a more detailed 12-hour Crash Course in Personal Ruggedization, as well as individual consultations.For some on the left, steeped in the mutual aid framework of the anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin, Steffen’s vision of migratory musical chairs smacks of the all-against-all gospel of the right. “Not everybody can do that,” Shonkwiler said of relocating, calling it “a ridiculous solution”.View image in fullscreenSteffen is all too aware uprooting is far from ideal even for those who can afford it. For one thing, it will tend to weaken the family and community ties that help keep us safe. Moreover, he noted that the exodus of people with money, resources and skills from endangered areas would tend to amplify the crisis for those left behind.Then again, nobody said the apocalypse would be pretty.Killjoy, who lives in rural West Virginia, thinks her identity as a trans woman may have contributed to her interest in preparedness. “Queer people have always had to look out for each other,” she said. Which highlights another important way in which liberal prepperism differs from the rightwing version: a rejection of individualism and an emphasis on community building and mutual aid. When Hurricane Helene hit, Killjoy, who had previously lived in western North Carolina, loaded her stash of dry goods, water jugs and solar generators into a van and drove to the hard-hit area to help out her former neighbors.The typical survivalist fantasy of isolating oneself in an off-grid cabin deep in the woods is unlikely to offer much protection, Steffen said. “Most people who try to use distance as their means of providing safety don’t succeed,” he said. “We still have this idea that we can just move out into the middle of rural Kentucky, put up some solar panels, drill a well, and we’re good, but it’s really not that easy. You can learn those skills, but you’re still going to have to work really hard on physical tasks compared to people who have common infrastructure that they’re sharing.”Elizabeth Doerr, co-host of the Cramming for the Apocalypse podcast, agreed: “Researchers talk a lot about how your ability to survive a disaster or thrive post-disaster is contingent on really knowing your neighbors – because when they don’t see you, they’re gonna come check on you.”The vast majority, Steffen believes, would be safer in urban settings – especially cities that are taking the threats seriously and developing resilience plans. “You are better off choosing to move towards systems that are used by a lot of people,” he told us. He admitted the idea may sound counterintuitive; a steady diet of zombie movies have taught many of us to associate proximity to other people with increased peril. “But the more people who are using the same set of infrastructure, the more money you have to keep those things well repaired and the more easily you can devote resources to it.”Another distinctive characteristic of liberal prepperism is an increasing focus on the emotional and even spiritual aspect of facing catastrophe. Given the damage we’ve already done to the atmosphere and the alarming lack of collective will to address the issue, those seeking to prepare have begun talking about what acceptance looks like.For them, the question is less whether we survive than how we maintain our humanity in the face of calamity, how we cope with loss, and how we use the time we have.David Baum spent years volunteering for the Community Emergency Response Team in Seattle. But when he learned how much of the preparedness budget had been earmarked for police equipment – “you know, armored trucks and weapons and handcuffs and sound cannons” – he began to question an approach to crisis response more suited to violent repression than communal wellbeing. He changed course after encountering the influential academic paper Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy by Jem Bendell, a professor of sustainability leadership and one-time darling of Davos, who has come to believe that our addiction to fossil fuels will soon bring about the destruction of civilization.After participating in online forums devoted to Bendell’s thinking, Baum started his own group. Three times a week, he and several colleagues host free online meetups where participants from around the world assemble to talk through their emotional responses to the prospect of human extinction. They call it Collapse Club.I participated in one session, and came away persuaded that genuine prepping requires not only “outer resilience”, as Baum puts it, but an inner kind as well.“Survival is not the goal,” he told me afterward. “It is impossible, given what’s happening. The relationship and the wisdom and the love that one discovers by approaching nature with respect – that’s the goal.”Despite his dismal prognosis, Baum is no doomer. “Even though it’s a global collapse we’re talking about, it really is possible in the company of others to metabolize these feelings and find stability in your life,” he promised. “You can imagine new ways to live, and you can find a purpose to go on.”Or as Bendell put it in his 2023 book Breaking Together: “Humanity is really screwed, so let’s slow down, help each other, be nicer to animals and nature, defend freedom, grow food, play more, be open-minded about what might help, and forgive ourselves.”For the last few years, Bendell told me in an email, he has done exactly that. He quit his full professorship, moved to Indonesia, and launched a school to teach sustainable agricultural practices to local farmers.He is under no illusion that the small, volunteer effort will have any real impact on a global crisis. And by no means would he refer to it as prepping. Rather than an effort to defend himself and his adopted community against a nightmare future, it’s a part of a commitment to living meaningfully in the present. “I know we could get washed away next week,” he wrote in a blogpost not long ago. “Or we could run out of money next year. Or we could get shut down due to a bureaucratic hitch. But it would still have been great for a time.” More

  • in

    Who are the death row executioners? Disgraced doctors, suspended nurses and drunk drivers

    Being an executioner is not the sort of job that gets posted in a local wanted ad. Kids don’t dream about being an executioner when they grow up, and people don’t go to school for it. So how does one become a death row executioner in the US, and who are the people doing it?This was the question I couldn’t help but ask when I began a book project on lethal injection back in 2018. I’m a death penalty researcher, and I was trying to figure out why states are so breathtakingly bad at a procedure that we use on cats and dogs every day. Part of the riddle was who is performing these executions.Seven years later – and with the Trump administration promising more executions to come – I have an answer, sort of.We do not, and for the most part cannot, know precisely who is under the executioner’s hood. State secrecy statutes put the equivalent of a Harry Potter cloak of invisibility over these state-sanctioned killers. But litigation files and investigative journalism have revealed a number of executioners’ identities, allowing us to peek behind the veil of secrecy for a glimpse of who these people are.Consider Missouri’s chief executioner from 1995-2006, Dr Alan Doerhoff, who was responsible for 54 of Missouri’s 65 executions between 1976 and 2006. He didn’t push the syringes – shockingly, non-medical prison guards did that – but he did most everything else. “Nobody will ever do as many [executions] as I have,” he would later boast.Doerhoff’s identity was revealed when a lawyer for a condemned prisoner checked the prison’s chemical dispensary logs and discovered that 2.5 grams of sodium thiopental (the drug used to anesthetize the prisoner) had been used in previous executions. The state’s protocol called for 5 grams, double that amount. The prisoner sued.State officials first told the court that the chemical dispensary logs were wrong. But the next day, they wrote again to “apologize to the court and the parties for providing incorrect information”. The logs were correct. The amount of sodium thiopental being injected was wrong.Troubled by the finding, the court allowed the prisoner’s lawyers to conduct a limited deposition of the state’s chief executioner. The executioner stated under oath that he had problems mixing the drugs, “so right now we’re still improvising”. He also said that he “sometimes transpose[d] numbers”.View image in fullscreen“I am dyslexic,” he explained. “So, it’s not unusual for me to make mistakes.” (Doerhoff later stated that he was not dyslexic, he just sometimes mixed up numbers.)Missouri doubled down on its executioner, telling the court that it was confident in his competence and planned to continue to use him in future executions. But the court rejected the state’s assurances, writing that it was “gravely concerned that a physician who is solely responsible for correctly mixing the drugs which will be responsible for humanely ending the life of condemned inmates has a condition which causes him confusion with regard to numbers”.The state appealed, but soon thereafter, investigative journalism discovered Doerhoff’s identity. Jeremy Kohler with the St Louis Post-Dispatch broke the story in January 2008, and with it came another shocking revelation: Doerhoff had been sued for medical malpractice more than 20 times, and his hospital privileges had been revoked at two hospitals. Doerhoff had also been publicly reprimanded by the state medical board for hiding his malpractice suits from the hospitals where he practiced.All of this was known to the Missouri attorney general’s office when it assured the court of Doerhoff’s professional competence. After oral arguments, the state dropped its appeal of the ruling.The following year, Missouri’s legislature passed a law stating: “A person may not knowingly disclose the identity of a current or former member of an execution team,” authorizing punitive damages for violations.“Their answer to the public finding out they had an incompetent doctor was making it impossible to find out who the doctor is,” an ACLU spokesperson stated.No longer able to serve as Missouri’s executioner, Doerhoff joined the staff of a local hair-removal business and served as an executioner for the federal government and at least one other state – Arizona.Arizona knew about the trial court’s ruling in Missouri, and the facts behind it. But it hired Doerhoff anyway, and he conducted an execution for the state in 2007, just months after being barred from conducting executions in Missouri.When attorneys found out about Doerhoff’s involvement, the prisoners next in line for execution in Arizona sued.Arizona settled that suit in 2009, agreeing to a number of changes in its lethal injection protocol, including formal background and license checks of its executioners. But during the litigation, attorneys for the prisoners discovered that Doerhoff wasn’t the only executioner who had no business conducting executions.One of Arizona’s three IV team executioners was medical team member #3, who was once a nurse but had his nursing license suspended. At the time of the litigation, his occupation was running an appliance business in another state. The identity of medical team member #3 is unknown, but the court noted that he had been arrested multiple times, “including three times in 10 days in Arizona for a DUI in 2007”.Arizona pledged that with its new screening system in place, the court could be confident that the state would use only licensed medical personnel going forward.But in 2011, Arizona was hauled back into federal court because it had not made good on its promise. The prison director admitted to conducting five executions with full knowledge that medical team member #4 did not hold a medical license of any kind. Nor did officials conduct the required criminal history check on him. If they had, they would have learned that medical team member #4 had been charged with DUI in 2008, public intoxication in 2000, and writing a bad check before that.Medical team member #4 was a prison guard who had previously served as a medical corpsman in the military. He later stated that his only screening was a phone call from the warden “asking whether he knew how to start an IV and whether he would have a problem doing it for an execution”. He was not asked any other questions, and at the time, he had not placed an IV for 15 years. On paper, Arizona was dutifully screening its execution team members. But in reality, the state was doing nothing of the sort.View image in fullscreenMissouri and Arizona are not the only states where discoveries about executioners have raised serious questions about the care and competence with which executioners are chosen. In 2006, a federal court struck down California’s lethal injection protocol based in part on the “inconsistent and unreliable screening of execution team members”.The execution team member responsible for the custody of lethal injection drugs had been disciplined for smuggling drugs into San Quentin before joining the execution team; two team members had been arrested for drunk driving; one suffered from depression and PTSD; and one had been out on a two-month medical leave from getting into a fight with a prisoner.The court in California also noted the “extremely troubling” disappearance of sodium thiopental that was ostensibly taken from the prison pharmacy for training purposes but never used and never returned. “These circumstances may warrant investigation by an appropriate law-enforcement agency,” the court wrote. In California, the state’s executioners were also the chief suspects in a potential criminal investigation.The federal government has proven no better than states on this score. Not only did the federal government hire Doerhoff after he was banned from serving as Missouri’s executioner, but it also hired a nurse for the Timothy McVeigh execution who had been charged with felony aggravated stalking and first-degree tampering with property, ultimately pleading no contest to the misdemeanor version of both charges. The nurse had allegedly smashed the windshield and headlights of a man who was seeing his estranged wife, ran over his mailbox, smashed windows of his home, and left voice messages threatening to burn his house down and blow his “[expletive] head off”!Federal officials knew of the convictions when it hired him – the nurse was on active probation and had to get permission from his probation officer to leave the state.“It seems bizarre to me that we would knowingly allow an offender, on active supervision, to participate in the execution process at any level,” a probation supervisor had written while the department was considering the request. But the permission was granted.In an internal memo, the administrator who confirmed the request for travel wrote: “It would be extremely problematic for [the nurse] and this department if the media got wind of this.”And how did this nurse-executioner get on the federal government’s radar? He was recommended by the Missouri department of corrections. A nurse with his own serious criminal convictions was secretly conducting executions on behalf of the show-me state.Lethal injection litigation has likewise revealed patently unfit executioners in other states as well. In Maryland, litigation revealed that one member of the state’s execution team had been fired by a local police department and charged with poisoning several neighborhood dogs, while another execution team member had been suspended for spitting in prisoners’ food.In Tennessee, litigation revealed that a member of the execution team had pleaded guilty, twice, to possession of a controlled substance, and missed an execution because he was at an in-patient treatment program. That was in 2007. In 2021, Tennessee’s physician-executioner stated that he surrendered his surgery accreditation because of “too many malpractice suits” – at least 10 by his estimation.These are just the executioners we know. But they are a chilling indication of the executioners we don’t know. As the former head of Oklahoma’s corrections department told a legislative committee in 2023, the prison staff charged with carrying out executions are “some of the lowest-paid state employees in government”.In executions, as elsewhere, you get what you pay for. Even when a doctor is nominally involved in the execution process, the people injecting the drugs are typically low-level prison employees.Most executioners say they just fell into the job. The opportunity came to them, and they had their reasons for saying yes. For prison guards, it may be a necessary step to moving up the prison ranks. Doctors likewise tend to say they simply slipped into the role. They had agreed to be an observer, but then the medical team needed help. Who were they to watch executioners prick a prisoner a dozen times in a desperate attempt to pierce the vein when they could do it more quickly?One reason doctors aren’t giving, but merits mention anyway, is money. A doctor willing to participate in an execution is a precious commodity, and states will pay dearly for it – up to $20,000 in cash per execution in some places. No doctor yet has said they’re participating in executions for the money. But the fact that they can make a killing from state killing has to be worth something.

    Corinna Lain is the author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection, out on 22 April More

  • in

    Finally, the Trump regime has met its match | Robert Reich

    It was bound to happen.Encouraged by the ease with which many big US institutions caved in to their demands, the Trump regime – that is, the small cadre of bottom-feeding fanatics around Donald Trump (JD Vance, Elon Musk, Russell Vought, Stephen Miller and RFK Jr) along with the child king himself – have overreached.They’ve dared China, Harvard and the supreme court to blink.But guess what? They’ve met their matches. None of them has blinked – and they won’t.China not only refused to back down when the Trump regime threatened it with huge tariffs, but also retaliated with huge tariffs of its own, plus a freeze on the export of rare-earth elements that the US’s high-tech and defense industries depend on.Harvard also pointedly defied the regime, issuing a clear rebuke to its attempt to interfere with academic freedom.The supreme court – in a rare unanimous decision – ordered Trump to facilitate the return of a legal US resident wrongly deported to a dangerous prison in El Salvador, without any criminal charges.But the White House was defiant. On Monday, both Trump officials and El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said they could not return Kilmar Ábrego García.“Of course, I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said when asked. Trump sat by his side with a smile on his face. The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, joined in the cruel imitation of justice: “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him.”What’s next?I suspect the testosterone-poisoned lackeys around King Trump are urging him to hit back even harder, escalating their confrontations with China, Harvard and the supreme court. They view these showdowns as ultimate tests of the regime’s strength.Think of it – they must be telling themselves and their boss – what prizes! If they defeat China, they have brought the world’s other economic powerhouse to its knees!If they defeat Harvard University, they have been victorious over the world’s intellectual powerhouse!skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIf they defeat the supreme court, they have conquered the entire US government!Win these battles and no one will ever again doubt the power and resolve of the Trump regime!Hopefully, Trump is smarter than this. He knows these three institutions will not back down. They are rich and powerful enough to defy Trump’s escalating threats and demands. They cannot and will not cower.If Trump escalates his wars against them, they’ll become even stronger in the eyes of their supporters and constituents, and much of the world.The American people will see that Trump is actually a blowhard with no real power at all.So if he’s smart, Trump will try to de-escalate these three conflicts.He’s already hinted at an off-ramp with China. He will probably find some way to claim that Harvard has capitulated to his demands. He will avoid a showdown with the supreme court.But keep a watch on these three. They are Trump’s most formidable foes. If he doesn’t understand this and instead succumbs to the urges of his power-crazed lackeys, the Trump regime’s days will in effect be over before it even completes the first hundred of them.

    Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com More

  • in

    Opt out: how to protect your data and privacy if you own a Tesla

    Welcome to Opt Out, a semi-regular column in which we help you navigate your online privacy and show you how to say no to surveillance. The last column covered how to protect your phone and data privacy at the US border. If you’d like to skip to a section about a particular tip, click the “Jump to” menu at the top of this article.At the press of a button, your Tesla pulls itself out of parking spot with no one behind the wheel using a feature called Summon. It drives itself on highways using Autopilot. When you arrive at your destination, it can record nearby activity while parked with a feature called Sentry Mode.To effectively operate any of these features, your car needs to monitor and collect a large amount of data about you. Most Tesla vehicles come equipped with nine internal and external cameras. Information from your Tesla, delivered via location trackers, sensors and more, can paint an intricate picture of your life and movement.“Teslas are truly rolling surveillance platforms,” said John Davisson, a senior counsel and director of litigation at digital rights research group Electronic Privacy Information Center. “There are some privacy safeguards that Tesla offers that at least allow you, on the face of the settings, to opt out of data sharing … provided that Tesla is actually following through on those commitments.”Tesla isn’t alone in collecting a considerable amount of data to enable a suite of advanced features on your vehicle. Any connected car collects some level of information to operate. Some Tesla owners are newly concerned, given CEO Elon Musk’s role in Donald Trump’s administration.Those concerns are not entirely unfounded, according to Reem Suleiman, the director of advocacy at Mozilla Foundation, which gave Tesla a “privacy not included” grade in its assessment of the carmaker’s data security practices. For one, the company’s track record of protecting user data is shaky. In 2023, a Reuters investigation found that employees were sharing sensitive footage that vehicles captured in internal messaging forums. A Washington Post analysis of transparency reports published by Twitter and then X after Musk took over likewise showed that X acquiesced to 20% more government requests to remove content in just the first half of 2024 than Twitter did in all of 2021 – the last time the company published the transparency report.We spoke to privacy experts, consulted Tesla’s privacy policy and even asked Tesla’s own AI chatbot how to share the least amount of data with Tesla as possible. If you own a Tesla, there are some precautions you can and, in many cases, should take with regards to your vehicle. But be forewarned: adjusting these settings so that you share the least possible amount of data with Tesla will shut off access to many of your car’s functions.“They pretty much say that, if you choose to opt out of data collection, then your car is essentially a lemon,” Suleiman said. “They essentially say that your vehicle can have reduced functionality, serious damage or inoperability. So it’s kind of a non-choice, when you think about it.”Here’s what you need to know about your privacy in Tesla vehicles:What information is your Tesla collecting about you?Tesla’s privacy policy details a wide swath of data that its vehicles collect – most of which is stored locally but is also sent to the company unless you change your settings.According to Tesla’s AI chatbot, information collected on you includes: “location data (although Tesla doesn’t record or store vehicle-specific GPS information, except in the case of a crash); driving habits and behaviors (such as speed, braking patterns, and acceleration); diagnostic and vehicle usage data (to help improve Tesla’s products and services); infotainment system data (like browsing history and voice commands) and Autopilot data (camera recordings, sensor readings, and other inputs to support advanced safety features)”.The good news is that data can be collected and stored on your vehicle’s local drives if opt out of sharing information with the company. The bad news is that data can still be accessed if law enforcement somehow gets a hold of your vehicle during a traffic stop or other circumstance, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Davisson.And it’s not just your car that’s collecting information. The Tesla mobile app, from which you can activate Sentry Mode or Summon, also collects location, contact, browsing and device information. Read on for how to dial back how much your car monitors you.Who is Tesla sharing your data with?If you opt to share your data with Tesla, all of the data it collects on you may be shared with third parties, including law enforcement. According to the company’s privacy policy, in addition to sharing data with law enforcement when the company receives a valid court order, Tesla will also share data when it is “essential to protect national security or public safety”. Davisson says that language is vague and opens the door for video footage to be shared with law enforcement for any number of reasons. Recently, for instance, the FBI has categorized vandalism of Tesla vehicles and showrooms as “domestic terrorism”.“Especially now, when everything is apparently a national emergency, it’s a very short hop from that to considering immigration enforcement to be a safety issue that requires constant sharing of real-time footage to Ice or other law enforcement officials,” said Davisson. “And it’s a scary situation.”So how do you protect your data?Consider other vehiclesEveryone has a different risk profile when it comes to their privacy. Some people may be more concerned than others about who is gaining access to their personal information. It’s not just your own privacy you need to be cognizant of, however, as Tesla’s exterior cameras can collect footage of people around the vehicle as well.If you are concerned about information gathering and don’t already have a Tesla, privacy experts say you should opt for a different car. If you do have one and want to reclaim your privacy, sell it. Even Tesla’s AI chatbot gave similar advice.“If someone is deeply concerned about their privacy, they might consider alternatives, such as: 1 Opting for a vehicle manufacturer with more restrictive data collection practices (though this might come at the cost of reduced convenience features); 2 Exploring aftermarket solutions or modifications that could potentially reduce data sharing (though this might void warranties or introduce compatibility issues).”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionFactory-reset your car before selling itSo you’ve already bought a Tesla, and you’ve decided to sell it. Suleiman and the Mozilla Foundation highly recommend factory-resetting the car before you do. That means your car will be wiped of all of its data as if it was just coming off the lot.“Just because you sell your car off doesn’t mean that you’ve scrubbed the data,” Suleiman said. “It requires a little bit of due diligence.”So before you take the vehicle off your Tesla account, you will need to factory-reset your car from your in-car settings. Sit in the driver’s seat and follow these steps:1 Go to Controls > Service > Factory Reset.2 Enter your Tesla account username and password to verify your credentials.3 Confirm that you want to perform a factory reset.“This will erase all personal data, including saved addresses, music favorites and imported contacts, and restore your car’s settings to their factory defaults,” according to Tesla’s AI chatbot. The company also recommends deleting your “HomeLink” devices – which can allow you to control things like your garage door, lights or home security system from your Tesla. Do that by clicking on the “HomeLink” icon at the top of the “Controls” screen then going to HomeLink settings, where you can remove connections to other devices.How to share the least amount of your data with TeslaIn the settings of your vehicle and the Tesla app, you can opt not to share your data with the company. But as we’ve said before, be prepared to lose some functionality of your car.Opting out of data-sharing in your car is fairly straightforward. In your vehicle, go to Settings > Software > Data sharing. Turn off “allow data sharing”. This will disable the sharing of analytics, road segment, diagnostic and vehicle usage data. Tesla’s AI chatbot also recommended turning off “allow Autopilot analytics” to stop sharing Autopilot-related data.Opt out of mobile app location and data sharing. In the Tesla app, go to Settings (the button will either look like three horizontal lines or a gear icon). Then scroll down to Security and Privacy. Then select turn off Location Services. Click Turn off Analytics to stop sharing app usage data to the company. Then revoke access to your camera, microphone and contacts.“By following these steps, you’ll be sharing the least amount of data with Tesla while still enjoying the core features and functionalities of your vehicle and mobile app,” according to the Tesla AI chatbot.But this will affect the functionality of your car. According to Tesla’s chatbot, data sharing will affect these features:“Remote vehicle monitoring and control through the mobile app (eg, checking your vehicle’s status, location, and surroundings); navigation and routing optimization (although basic navigation will still work); geofencing and smart preconditioning (your vehicle won’t be able to anticipate your arrival or departure); some Autopilot features, such as traffic-aware cruise control and automatic emergency braking, may not function optimally; over-the-air software updates might be delayed or unavailable; certain advanced safety features, like Emergency Services, may not work seamlessly.”“I don’t think it should be a trade-off,” Davisson said. “It is true that some of the collision avoidance systems and autonomous features on Teslas like other vehicles do rely on data collection and cameras. But it should not come at the cost of the privacy, certainly of the driver or passengers of the vehicle or for people that happen to be in the area surrounding the vehicle.” More

  • in

    In a world full of wedgies, are you a wedger like Trump, or a wedgee like me? | Adrian Chiles

    Sir Ed Davey has made more than one significant contribution to the tone of political discourse over the past year. Obviously, there’s all the surfing, rollercoasting, bungee jumping and so on. There’s also his use of the word “wedgie” in relation to trade tariffs. That’s some trick to pull off. Respect. Here’s what he said earlier this month: “Despite backing the US in every major conflict this century – and offering to water down our tax on US tech billionaires – we’ve been rewarded with the same tariffs as Iran. It’s like we’re meant to be grateful Trump gave our friends a black eye and left us with just a wedgie.”This was quoted on The World at One on BBC Radio 4, which involved the presenter Sarah Montague using the word wedgie, too. Something else I never thought I’d hear. Even over where I work on BBC Radio 5 Live, where we’re less squeamish about using the vernacular, Davey’s wedgie-bomb came as a bit of a shock. But we soon gathered ourselves enough to hatch a plan on where we should go with the idea. My editor suggested it may be profitable to consider how mankind – and I believe we are talking about a largely male pursuit – can be divided into wedgees and wedgers. That is, those who have been wedgied and those who have done the wedging.I should explain to those unfamiliar with this ghastly practice – one generally but not exclusively experienced in our schooldays – that a wedgie is when you come up behind someone and, unbidden, take hold of the elastic of their underpants and … Actually, let’s leave it at that. If you know, you know. If you don’t, be grateful.My editor – who is called Tom Green, by the way, if you want to complain about any of this on taste grounds – is, like me, very much a wedgee. It’s why we get on. The current president of the United States is plainly a wedger. I use the present tense there, not because I think President Trump is an active wedger, but because it’s not a label you can shed. Once a wedger, always a wedger. Our prime minister, equally obviously, is a wedgee, and this is greatly to his credit. His predecessor, Mr Sunak, is a wedgee too. Liz Truss? Let’s not go there. Boris Johnson? Most definitely a wedger.To be clear, not all wedgers are bad. Some of my best friends are wedgers. But it’s the rest of us who are on the side of the angels. Hard though it is to believe just now, it’s the wedgees who will inherit the Earth. More

  • in

    Ex-UK defence minister ‘disgusted’ by Trump’s attitude to Putin and Russia

    Pronouncing himself “disgusted” by Donald Trump’s favorable attitude to Russia and Vladimir Putin, the former UK defence minister Grant Shapps said the US president calling a Russian missile strike that killed dozens in Ukraine last weekend a “mistake” was an example of “weasel language we used to hear … from the IRA” terrorist group.“All anybody needs Putin to do is get the hell out of a democratic neighboring country,” Shapps told the One Decision podcast, regarding attempts to end the war in Ukraine that has raged since Russia invaded in February 2022.“And I just have to [put] this on record: it disgusts me, I feel disgusted [by] the idea that the leader of the free world cannot tell the difference between the dictator who locks up and murders his opponents and invades innocent democratic countries and the country itself that has been invaded.“This lack of moral clarity is completely demoralizing for the rest of the democratic world.”Shapps, 56, filled numerous roles in Conservative cabinets before becoming minister of defence in August 2023, becoming a key player in maintaining international support for Ukraine. He lost his seat in parliament last July, as Labour won power in a landslide. This month, Shapps was given a knighthood.One Decision is a foreign policy focused podcast, with co-hosts including Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of the British MI6 intelligence service, and Leon Panetta, a former US defense secretary and CIA director.On the campaign trail last year, Trump repeatedly said he would secure peace in Ukraine in one day. Instead, he has angered allies by rebuking the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office; sought to extract concessions from Kyiv over access to rare minerals; and deployed a negotiator, Steve Witkoff, whose effusive praise for Putin has attracted widespread scorn. On Monday, Trump repeated his incorrect claim that Zelenskyy started the war.Though talks have been held in Saudi Arabia, the war has continued. This month has seen devastating Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities. First, nine children were among 19 people killed in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s home town. In Sumy last Sunday, missiles killed at least 35 and injured more than 100.Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said of the Sumy strike: “I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing.”Shapps said: “It’s a sort of weasel language. We used to hear it from the IRA [the Irish Republican terrorist group, after attacks killed civilians]. I mean, it’s just appalling to hear this sort of thing. It’s appalling not to be able to condemn it properly.”Alluding to years of reporting on why Trump has such a favorable view of Putin, with theories ranging from admiration for autocrats to Russia holding compromising material, Shapps said: “I think I do know what hold Putin may have [over Trump] but I mean, it is not right.”Asked by co-host Kate McCann what he meant by “hold”, Shapps first noted that Trump’s first impeachment, in 2020, was for withholding military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to get Zelenskyy to dig up dirt on Joe Biden.Shapps also said that by appeasing Putin, Trump was offering encouragement to other autocrats with territorial ambitions.“Even if you are the Trump White House, surely you must understand that if you let one dictator get away with it, what do you think will happen when another dictator walks into a neighboring state or one maybe just over the water and takes it over? Do you think that people will believe the west when we say you can’t do that?” More