Elon Musk has emerged as the sole financial architect behind a provocative political action committee that appropriated the name of late US supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to bolster Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to federal campaign finance reports released on Thursday.
The RBG Pac, funded entirely by the world’s richest man with a $20.5m donation in the final two weeks of the campaign, ran advertisements and mailers suggesting an ideological alignment between Trump and Ginsburg on abortion.
That’s a narrative that Clara Spera, the justice’s granddaughter, denounced as fundamentally misleading.
“The use of her name and image to support Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, and specifically to suggest that she would approve of his position on abortion, is nothing short of appalling,” she told the New York Times in October.
The RBG Pac’s strategic advertising push arrived at a critical political moment, following months of Democratic attacks on Trump’s abortion stance. Its website featured a photo of Trump and Ginsburg with the caption “Great Minds Think Alike” – a claim that directly contradicts Ginsburg’s well-documented judicial philosophy and her personal opposition to Trump.
“Why did Ruth Bader Ginsburg agree with Donald Trump’s position on abortion?” the website asked. “Because RBG believed that the federal government shouldn’t dictate our abortion laws.”
The Pac claimed that Trump doesn’t support a federal abortion ban – something Trump himself said on the campaign trail – although he will face pressure from Republicans and opponents of abortion to enact one once he takes office anyway.
Spera has shared in the past that Ginsburg’s dying wish in September 2020 had been that she was not replaced on the court until a new president was sworn in. That request was ignored by Trump when he appointed Amy Coney Barrett, who would later be part of the conservative majority overturning Roe v Wade.
Musk’s political spending far exceeded this single Pac, ballooning to more than $260m in the 2024 election cycle. His primary vehicle was America Pac, which raised about $252m, with Musk making high-profile campaign appearances and conducting voter outreach initiatives that included controversial $1m giveaways in swing states.
The billionaire’s political donations also extended to a $3m contribution to a Super Pac linked to Robert F Kennedy Jr and nearly $1m directly to Trump’s campaign committee.
Now with the Trump win, Musk is positioned to play a significant role in the incoming administration. He’s set to co-lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” alongside biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, pledging to dramatically reduce federal bureaucracy.
The US added 227,000 jobs in November, with 54,000 added jobs in healthcare, 53,000 leisure and hospitality jobs and 33,000 government jobs added in the month
The unemployment rate increased to 4.2%, from 4.1% in October.
The final jobs report of 2024 was released prior to the December meeting of the Federal Reserve. The Fed is expected to cut interest rates for the third time in 2024 given softening inflation and a slow down in the jobs market.
The latest report follow October’s disappointing tally. Ahead of election day the labor department announced the US had added only 12,000 jobs in the month. Two hurricanes and a strike of 33,000 workers at Boeing impacted the jobs report, which was far below the projected estimates of 120,000 jobs. October’s report was the weakest month for job growth in the US since December 2020.
The Boeing strike ended last month and the November jobs report was expected to show a rebound from October, as 32,000 jobs were added in transportation equipment manufacturing. Although hurricane impacts are still being felt by businesses, jobs in repair and renovation work were expected to offset those impacts.
“The Biden Administration is handing off a rock-solid labor market after their strategic investments strengthened our economy and ushered in the fastest recession recovery on record,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the progressive economic advocacy nonprofit Groundwork Collaborative, in a statement in response to the jobs report. “President-elect Trump would do well to continue to invest in the workers and communities that have powered this resilience. But if he pursues trillions in tax cuts for the wealthy and implements the proposals to slash public investments that people like Musk have championed, the labor market will surely deteriorate and workers will suffer the consequences of these choices.”
“President-elect Trump would do well to continue to invest in the workers and communities that have powered this resilience. But if he pursues trillions in tax cuts for the wealthy and implements the proposals to slash public investments that people like Musk have championed, the labor market will surely deteriorate and workers will suffer the consequences of these choices.”
On Wednesday ADP, the US’s largest payroll supplier, said companies added 146,000 jobs in October, less than economists had expected. ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson, said: “Manufacturing was the weakest we’ve seen since spring. Financial services and leisure and hospitality were also soft.”
November’s job report is the penultimate reading on the labor market before Donald Trump assumes the presidency. Economists are already parsing the impact of Trump’s proposed policies on hiring.
“One big source of uncertainty in the November data is the impact of Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation. The reference week was after the election, so there may already be some effect showing up in the data,” said Dean Baker, economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), in a blog post on what to expect in the November jobs report.
“It is likely that the October data already reflected the sharp decrease in immigration at the start of the summer. The data are highly erratic, and not seasonally adjusted, but the increase in the employment of foreign-born workers in the three months ending in October was just 89,000. That compares to 328,000 for the three months ending in October 2023, and 768,000 for October of 2022.”
A top Romanian court has annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after declassified intelligence alleged Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round.
The constitutional court’s decision – which is final – came on Friday after President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence two days earlier that alleged Russia ran a sprawling campaign comprising thousands of social media accounts to promote Calin Georgescu across platforms like TikTok and Telegram.
Despite being a huge outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner on 24 November. He was due to face the reformist Elena Lasconi, of the Save Romania Union party, in a runoff on Sunday.
More than 400 chemicals regularly used in everyday plastic products are linked to breast cancer, and the dangerous compounds could be a driver of increasingly elevated cancer rates in young women, new research finds.
Many of the toxic chemicals â such as PFAS, phthalates, parabens and aromatic amines â are added to food packaging, personal care products and single-use plastics, making exposures nearly ubiquitous.
Though the paperâs findings highlight âwidespread and frustratingâ under-regulation of plastic, it also strongly points toward regulatory solutions, said Ruthann Rudel, a co-author with the Silent Spring Institute.
âPlastic production is an area where we now know we have a set of chemicals that are of high concern for breast concern ⦠and now we can target them more effectively where we have opportunity for regulation,â Rudel said.
Plastic is a notoriously toxic material that can contain any of over 16,000 chemicals, many of which are known to be hazardous to human health or the environment, and many others that have no public toxicological profile.
The paper follows recent Silent Spring research that identified more than 900 chemicals in commercial use that are linked to breast cancer. Rudelâs team crosschecked that group with a database of plastic chemicals, and found 414 matches.
The studyâs authors note that women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with cancer before age 50 â breast cancer is a major driver of high rates â and the exposures to plastic chemicals are probably a significant piece of the puzzle.
The chemicals identified either cause mammary tumors in animal studies, affect hormone synthesis, are genotoxic or present some combination of each pathway to breast cancer.
Phthalates are added to plastic to prevent the material from becoming brittle, while PFAS are added to prevent sticking, or to form a barrier for sensitive contents in a package. Rudel said she is particularly concerned about aromatic amines, often used as dyes, because they are ubiquitous, and what little toxicological data on the chemical class exists points to high carcinogenicity.
Despite the known risks, plastic in general remains a little-regulated substance, largely because of the petrochemical and plastic industryâs lobbying power. But regulation can be effective: the addition of some phthalates to Californiaâs Proposition 65 law, which targets toxic chemicals in consumer goods, broadly reduced the level of the dangerous compound in Californiansâ blood.
Much of the success in limiting toxic chemicals has come at the state level, Rudel said, and she added that regulators need to start addressing chemical classes instead of each chemical on an individual basis. The latter approach makes it virtually impossible for regulators to address even a majority of toxic chemicals.
The world also needs to wind down plastic production, Rudel said, adding that the United Nations-backed plastic treaty could be an effective tool. However, that process has been sabotaged by the unwillingness of petroleum-producing nations like the US.
On an individual level, women can take some steps to protect themselves. Diet is a major exposure route so avoiding plastic in kitchenware and food packaging could significantly reduce exposure.
âPeople donât have to know the individual chemicals, they can just try to use less plastic and it will be good for the earth and them,â Rudel said.
Thousands flee as Syrian rebels push on towards Homs
Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs overnight and into Friday morning, a war monitor and residents said, as rebel forces sought to push their lightning offensive against government forces farther south.
They have already captured the key cities of Aleppo in the north and Hama in the centre, dealing successive devastating blows to president Bashar al-Assad, nearly 14 years after protests against him erupted across Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said thousands of people had begun fleeing on Thursday night towards Syria’s western coastal regions, a stronghold of the government.
According to Reuters, a resident of the coastal area said thousands of people had begun arriving there from Homs, fearing the rebels’ fast-paced advance.
Syrian rebels celebrate capture of second major city after Assad regime forces withdraw – video
On Friday morning, Israeli airstrikes hit two border crossings between Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon’s transport minister, Ali Hamieh, said.
The Syrian state news agency, Sana, said the Arida border crossing with Lebanon was out of service due to the attack. The Israeli military said it had attacked weapons transfer hubs and infrastructure overnight on the Syrian side of the Lebanese border, saying these routes had been used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.
Russian bombing overnight also destroyed the Rustan Bridge along the key M5 highway, to prevent rebels from using this main route to Homs city, a Syrian army officer told Reuters.
“There were at least eight strikes on the bridge,” he added. Government forces were working to strengthen positions around Homs city with fresh reinforcements, he said.
Rebels led by the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had pledged to move on to the central city of Homs, a crossroads city that links the capital Damascus to the north and Assad’s heartland along the coast.
“Your time has come,” said a rebel operations room in an online post, calling on Homs residents to rise up in revolution.
More on that in a moment, but first, here are some of the other latest developments:
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed in the country since the violence erupted last week. It marks the most intense fighting since 2020 in the civil war sparked by the repression of pro-democracy protests in 2011.
Iran says it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the west alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile programme. Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh programme, a satellite-carrying rocket that had seen a series of failed launches. The launch took place at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. There was no immediate independent confirmation Friday the launch was successful.
Iraqi foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, will meet his Syrian and Iranian counterparts on Friday to discuss the situation in Syria, the Iraqi state news agency said on Thursday.
A Hamas official said on Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the US because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas.
Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said that he plans to hold talks on Friday with Turkish and Iranian officials on the situation in Syria. On Thursday, Lavrov said Moscow was “very much concerned” with a recent escalation of violence in Syria.
Key events
The head of US-backed Syrian Kurdish force said on Friday that Islamic State group had taken control over some areas in eastern Syria.
“Due to the recent developments, there is increased movement by Islamic State mercenaries in the Syrian desert, in the south and west of Deir Al-Zor and the countryside of al-Raqqa,” Mazloum Abdi said in a press conference, referring to areas in the east of the country, according to Reuters.
North Gaza hospital director says Israeli strikes hit facility
The director of north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital said Israel conducted several strikes on Friday that hit the facility, one of the last functioning health centres in the area, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“There was a series of airstrikes on the northern and western sides of the hospital, accompanied by intense and direct fire,” Hossam Abu Safieh said, adding that four staff were killed and no surgeons were left at the site.
UN says Syria fighting has displaced 280,000 people since 27 November
The escalation in fighting in Syria has displaced about 280,000 people in just over a week, the UN said on Friday, warning that numbers could rise to 1.5 million.
“The figure we have in front of us is 280,000 people since 27 November,” Samer AbdelJaber, head of emergency coordination at the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), told reporters in Geneva. “That does not include the figure of people who fled from Lebanon during the recent escalations” in fighting there, he added.
The mass displacement has happened since rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched their lightning offensive a little more than a week ago. That occurred just as a tenuous ceasefire in neighbouring Lebanon took hold between Israel and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s ally Hezbollah.
WFP warned that the fresh mass-displacement inside Syria, more than 13 years after the country’s civil war erupted, was “adding to years of suffering”.
AbdelJaber said the WFP and other humanitarian agencies were “trying to reach the communities wherever their needs are”, and that they were working “to secure safe routes so that we can be able to move the aid and the assistance to the communities that are in need”.
He also stressed the urgent need for more funding to ensure humanitarians are “ready for any scenario basically in terms of displacements that could evolve in the coming days or months”.
According to AFP, AbdelJaber cautioned that “if the situation continues evolving (at the current) pace, we’re expecting collectively around 1.5 million people that will be displaced and will be requiring our support”.
Syria’s army backed by warplanes, including from ally Russia, were targeting “terrorist vehicles and gatherings” in Hama province on Friday, the defence ministry said, amid a major rebel offensive, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Our armed forces are targeting terrorist vehicles and gatherings in the north and south of Hama province using artillery, missiles and joint Syrian-Russian warplanes,” a ministry statement said, citing a military source.
Rebel military commander Hassan Abdel Ghani said in a statement on Telegram on Friday that “our forces continue to march steadily towards the city of Homs”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He said “hundreds” of fighters who had been forced to leave Homs years ago after the government retook it had returned “to deter Assad’s aggression against their city”.
Homs was once dubbed the “capital of the revolution” because of the large-scale protests in the city when Syria’s uprising began in March 2011.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said tens of thousands of residents were fleeing Homs on Thursday towards the coast, fearing the rebel advance (see 7.41am GMT).
Syria rebel leader says goal is to ‘overthrow’ Assad
The leader of an Islamist rebel alliance driving a lightning offensive in Syria has said the goal of the campaign is to overthrow the government of president Bashar al-Assad, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal,” Abu Mohammed al-Jolani told CNN in an interview published on Friday.
Israel says it struck Hezbollah ‘smuggling routes’ on Syria-Lebanon border
Israel’s military said on Friday that it carried out strikes overnight targeting Hezbollah “weapon-smuggling routes” on the Syria-Lebanon border, just over a week into a fragile ceasefire in its war with the Lebanese group.
Official media in both Lebanon and Syria reported that the air raid put the al-Arida border crossing – already hit during the Israel-Hezbollah war – out of service.
The Israeli air force “conducted strikes on weapon-smuggling routes and terror infrastructure sites located near the Syrian regime’s crossings at the Syrian-Lebanese border”, the military said in a statement that included a map identifying one of the targets as the al-Arida crossing, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Syrian state news agency, Sana, said that “the al-Arida border crossing between Syria and Lebanon is out of service again due to an Israeli attack that targeted it” early on Friday.
According to AFP, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the strike “led to damage to infrastructure” and cut off the border road “again after the bridge was repaired” following a previous attack.
Israel has struck border crossings between Syria and Lebanon numerous times, saying it aims to prevent weapons smuggling from Syria into Lebanon. The latest strike came amid mutual accusations between Israel and Hezbollah of violating the terms of a ceasefire agreement that came into effect on 27 November.
Rebels 5km away from Homs, says Syria war monitor
A monitor of Syria’s war said rebels were just 5km (3 miles) from third city Homs on Friday, after controlling two strategic towns on the road linking it to Hama, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions have reached five kilometres from the outskirts of Homs city after controlling the towns of Rastan and Talbisseh,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that controlling Homs would allow the rebels to “cut off the main road leading to the Syrian coast”, the stronghold of president Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority.
Thousands flee as Syrian rebels push on towards Homs
Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs overnight and into Friday morning, a war monitor and residents said, as rebel forces sought to push their lightning offensive against government forces farther south.
They have already captured the key cities of Aleppo in the north and Hama in the centre, dealing successive devastating blows to president Bashar al-Assad, nearly 14 years after protests against him erupted across Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said thousands of people had begun fleeing on Thursday night towards Syria’s western coastal regions, a stronghold of the government.
According to Reuters, a resident of the coastal area said thousands of people had begun arriving there from Homs, fearing the rebels’ fast-paced advance.
Syrian rebels celebrate capture of second major city after Assad regime forces withdraw – video
On Friday morning, Israeli airstrikes hit two border crossings between Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon’s transport minister, Ali Hamieh, said.
The Syrian state news agency, Sana, said the Arida border crossing with Lebanon was out of service due to the attack. The Israeli military said it had attacked weapons transfer hubs and infrastructure overnight on the Syrian side of the Lebanese border, saying these routes had been used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.
Russian bombing overnight also destroyed the Rustan Bridge along the key M5 highway, to prevent rebels from using this main route to Homs city, a Syrian army officer told Reuters.
“There were at least eight strikes on the bridge,” he added. Government forces were working to strengthen positions around Homs city with fresh reinforcements, he said.
Rebels led by the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had pledged to move on to the central city of Homs, a crossroads city that links the capital Damascus to the north and Assad’s heartland along the coast.
“Your time has come,” said a rebel operations room in an online post, calling on Homs residents to rise up in revolution.
More on that in a moment, but first, here are some of the other latest developments:
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed in the country since the violence erupted last week. It marks the most intense fighting since 2020 in the civil war sparked by the repression of pro-democracy protests in 2011.
Iran says it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the west alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile programme. Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh programme, a satellite-carrying rocket that had seen a series of failed launches. The launch took place at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. There was no immediate independent confirmation Friday the launch was successful.
Iraqi foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, will meet his Syrian and Iranian counterparts on Friday to discuss the situation in Syria, the Iraqi state news agency said on Thursday.
A Hamas official said on Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the US because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas.
Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said that he plans to hold talks on Friday with Turkish and Iranian officials on the situation in Syria. On Thursday, Lavrov said Moscow was “very much concerned” with a recent escalation of violence in Syria.
The South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, could put citizens in âgreat dangerâ if he is not suspended, the head of the ruling party said on Friday, increasing the likelihood that parliament will vote to impeach Yoon over Tuesdayâs failed martial law declaration.
â[If] President Yoon continues to hold the office of the presidency, there is a significant risk that extreme actions similar to the martial law declaration could be repeated, which could put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger,â the head of the People Power party, Han Dong-hoon, told an emergency party leadership meeting.
Yoon shocked the country and his own party on Tuesday when he announced he was imposing martial law in order to root out âanti-state forcesâ and overcome obstructionist political opponents.
He reversed course about six hours later after parliament, including some members of his party, voted to oppose the decree. He is due to face an impeachment vote on Saturday.
On Friday, the head of South Korean special forces, Commander Kwak Jong-geun, said he had been ordered to âdrag outâ lawmakers from parliament on the night martial law was declared.
Han said he had confirmed that Yoon had directed the arrest of key political figures during the brief martial law period, relying on high school connections that are widely believed to be part of a larger alleged network of influence.
South Korean prosecutors are investigating the president and other key officials including former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun and interior minister Lee Sang-min over the martial law declaration. Police are conducting a separate parallel investigation.
Phone records released on Friday show that then-defence minister Kim called interior minister Lee hours before the martial law announcement â the only call between the two officials from 1-4 December.
Kim tendered his resignation on Wednesday, saying he considered himself responsible for the crisis that the martial law decree had created.
The main opposition Democratic party has scheduled an impeachment vote for the president on Saturday evening, and the national police have launched an investigation into Yoon after an opposition party and activists filed allegations of insurrection.
On Thursday, the ruling party said it was against impeachment, but Han suggested that stance may be shifting in light of âcredible evidenceâ that Yoon had intended to arrest and detain political leaders at Gwacheon, just south of Seoul.
âI said yesterday that I would try not to pass this impeachment in order to prevent damage to the people and supporters caused by the unprepared chaos, but I believe that President Yoon Suk Yeolâs immediate suspension of office is necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its people in light of the newly revealed facts,â Han said.
He did not explicitly call for impeachment or respond to reporters when asked for clarification.
âConsidering the newly emerging facts, I believe that a swift suspension of President Yoon Suk Yeolâs duties is necessary to safeguard the Republic of Korea and its people,â Han said.
Han said Yoon had not taken any personnel actions against military officials who had âillegally intervenedâ.
âFurthermore, he does not acknowledge that this illegal martial law is wrong,â he said.
This alleged clique being linked to the martial law declaration has been dubbed the âChoongam factionâ because those suspected of involvement all graduated from Choongam high school in Seoul. In South Korea, school connections – particularly relationships between seniors and juniors from the same institution – often remain influential throughout graduatesâ careers, and are seen as crucial networks in life.
It has drawn comparisons to South Koreaâs notorious Hanahoe group â a military circle formed by graduates of the same military academy that underpinned the dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan in the 1980s.
Alleged key players in this weekâs martial law declaration, including Kim and Lee, and defence counterintelligence chief Yeo In-hyeong, are all Choongam graduates.
The existence of an influential Choongam network had been previously denied by Kim during his confirmation hearing in September. When questioned by opposition lawmakers, he also explicitly rejected the possibility of martial law being declared, calling it inappropriate for modern times.
Meanwhile, Lee stated on Thursday that he had never attended any any gatherings of Choongam graduates when questioned about the alleged clique.
Han was previously regarded as a close associate of Yoon as they spent years working together as prosecutors and he served as Yoonâs first justice minister. But after Han entered party politics and became PPP leader, their ties soured badly.
Han leads a minority faction within the ruling party, and 18 lawmakers in his faction voted with opposition lawmakers to overturn Yoonâs martial law decree.
The PPP was holding an enlarged meeting with rank-and-file lawmakers to discuss Yoonâs impeachment.
Cho Kyoung-tae, a senior ruling party lawmaker who supports Yoonâs impeachment, told reporters that each party lawmaker must decide âwhether they want to take the peopleâs side or become collaborators of martial law forces.â
Others however said they did not want a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then-president Park Geun-hye, which triggered the implosion of the conservative Grand National party and a victory by liberals in presidential and general elections.
Yoon Sang-hyun, a five-time ruling party lawmaker, said he still opposed impeachment.
âWe cannot impeach the president tomorrow and hand over the regime to Lee Jae-Myungâs Democratic party. It is not for the sake of protecting President Yoon Suk Yeol, but for the sake of the Republic of Koreaâs system and our childrenâs future. I cannot participate in the impeachment of the president tomorrow,â Yoon told reporters.
Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic party, said she believed the people had already psychologically impeached Yoon.
The Democratic party leader, Lee Jae-myung, said the declaration of martial law was a rebellion waged by the president in order to maintain or extend his power.
âItâs an act of insurrection,â he said. âItâs a pro-military coup.â
Fearing another attempt to declare martial law, opposition lawmakers were rotating through parliamentâs plenary session hall to block any such attempt, a Democratic party official said.
âWhile there may still be a few ruling party members supporting Yoon Suk Yeol, it seems that Hanâs statements today are significantly influenced by the gravity of the situation, particularly the mobilisation of intelligence agencies to arrest politicians,â Shin Yul, professor of political science at Myongji University, told Agence France-Presse.
âIt appears that Han and the party leaders have concluded there is actually a significant possibility that President Yoon may declare a second martial law.â
With Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
It was a strange session. A wicket first ball of the Test, Australia running around. Then KL and Gill got India right back on top, before a couple of strange dismissals trying to leave, and the lbw.
Hereâs a number from the Viz tracking. Cummins didnât bowl a single ball that session that would have hit the stumps. Starc and Boland bowled three each, two of which got lbw dismissals. Maybe⦠worth trying that more?
Anyway. Australia now in a good spot, but many a team has let an innings slip from four down.
Meanwhile, if you want to catch up on the other Test, Harry Brook made yet another Test hundred off about 90 balls.
23rd over: India 82-2 (Pant 4, Rohit 1) Starc to Indiaâs captain, the biggest threat today, and Rohit is trying to defuse it by playing across his pad repeatedly, trying to work the ball to leg. That doesnât work, a fielder is set at short midwicket, so Rohit drives chancily on the up and nearly nicks one angled across. Then serious bounce from Starc takes the next up past the shoulder of the bat.
âKeenly following proceedings from cold and windy Germany where the few cricket enthusiasts like me are braving the chill to keep up with the pink-ball drama. I guess the contrast couldnât be starker â while Adelaide Oval is abuzz with energy under the summer skies, Germanyâs freezing winter adds a layer of coziness to late-night match-watching sessions, with warm drinks in hand and hopes as high as the stakes in this rivalry.â
When you said braving the chill, Dasika, I thought you meant watching it outdoors! That would be commitment.
22nd over: India 82-2 (Pant 4, Rohit 1) So the skipper comes out, Rohit Sharma back batting at six, where I think he batted here in 2014. And some work to do, along with his keeper. Gets started with a single to square.
WICKET! Gill lbw Boland 31, India 81-4
Finally! A non-Starc wicket, and Boland gets one after the two botched attempts in his first over. Thatâs as dead as they get when it comes to lbw. Full pitch, angled in, looks like it keeps a bit low as well? And hits Gill on the ankle in front of off stump, on the crease, on a moderate angle. He doesnât bother to review.
The game has turned. Itâs getting cooler and gloomier outside, not the easiest for batting.
21st over: India 81-2 (Gill 31, Pant 4) Now Pant gets going with a boundary! Second ball, flicks it square. Wickets and fours for Starc today. He now has 69 wickets at 18 in pink-ball cricket, with three so far here.
WICKET! Kohli c Smith b Starc 7, India 77-3
What is going on here! Another wicket to the attempted leave. Kohli has the bat up, then starts to come forward, then wants to lift it back up over the rising ball as he detects the line outside off stump. But the bounce is too high, the pace too great. The ball clips the toe of his bat in its backlift, and dips through to second slip where Smith takes it well, low down.
20th over: India 77-2 (Gill 31, Kohli 7) Nearly a run out there, as Gill sprawls into his ground at the non-strikerâs end after calling for a tight run to the leg side. Kohli loves a fast single. It gets him on strike, and just as the other two kept doing, he fidns the boundary aerially through gully. Dicey method, but itâs not costing them. Kohli steps forward at Boland and drives three more through cover, with a solid clunk of ball meeting bat.
19th over: India 69-2 (Gill 30, Kohli 0) The customary cheer for Virat Kohli as the star player comes to the middle. Made his 30th Test century in Perth. Defends and leaves his first two balls here.
WICKET! Rahul c McSweeney b Starc 37, India 69-2
Relief for Australia! McSweeney is pumped up, bellowing and red-faced after taking the low catch. Strange shot from KL Rahul. Weâve seen the one where he runs the ball off the face while holding the bat in the backlift. This one starts that way, but the angle goes across him, the bounce is high, and perhaps by instinct, he follows the ball from that backlift position. Just shifts his wrists towards the line, waving the bat in a small circular motion, as through drawn to try dabbing it away somewhere or other. And the ball comes off the face of the bat, facing the ground, and into the gully.
18th over: India 67-1 (Rahul 35, Gill 30) Early spin, but it doesnât stop Rahul scoring, Drives Nathan Lyon through cover for four as well.
17th over: India 61-1 (Rahul 30, Gill 29) Cummins has been scored from too easily today, between good balls. Driven by Rahul through covers for another four.
16th over: India 56-1 (Rahul 26, Gill 28) Gill has calmed down now, quietly taking a couple of runs to cover, then one more. How much might that earlier Boland over haunt Australia? No threat from this one.
âIt is 4.40 am and like all the best people, Iâm a nocturnal test cricket fan. Iâm several thousand miles away in a grotty and dismal UK and Iâm trying to keep an eye on both Tests that are going on. One on the radio and the other via a live stream. Is Adelaide now the de facto day/night test place in Australia?â
Not exactly, John Goldstein. More of them have been played here than elsewhere, but weâve also had a few in Brisbane and one in Perth and Hobart. Melbourne will host the womenâs Ashes Test as a day-nighter this coming January. And next year the menâs Ashes has a day game here and a night one at the Gabba.
15th over: India 53-1 (Rahul 26, Gill 25) Thatâs gorgeous. His best shot of the day. Better than any of Gillâs, now that I think of it. Rahul leans back and plays a late cut to pace, a stylish flourish of the bat, using the pace from Cummins to send the ball racing away safely on the bounce through gully. Entirely deliberate, that one. Then a more workmanlike forcing shot goes through backward point and makes it to the rope as well. These shots are after running two, making this an expensive over. Things are looking threatening for Australia despite the early wicket.
KL Rahul starts to open up after making a patient start to his innings. Photograph: Michael Errey/AFP/Getty Images
14th over: India 43-1 (Rahul 16, Gill 25) Oof, shot! Lovely cover drive from KL, sending Boland to the fence. Then tries to cut and misses, before being beaten again pushing with a straight bat. Squeezes away a run to leg.
13th over: India 38-1 (Rahul 11, Gill 25) Cummins is hitting the pitch hard without extracting any lateral movement that I can see, the first few balls. Does manage to bowl a maiden to Gill though, which today takes some doing.
Australia captain Pat Cummins bowls a maiden to Shubman Gill. Photograph: James Elsby/AP
12th over: India 38-1 (Rahul 11, Gill 25) Boland follows the tactical hydration interval, with Rahul again happy to block until he can nudge a couple of runs. Now that the ball is past its very new stage, will it offer less?
11th over: India 36-1 (Rahul 9, Gill 25) Cummins is back, with that intensity, and he draws an edge from Gill, but like the others it ends up at the boundary. This time scooting onto the ground through the cordon again, McSweeney at gully seeing it go by. Then adding two more, out to cover.
Drinks, after 11 overs and one wicket. Theyâre supposed to bowl 15 an hour, for reference.
10th over: India 30-1 (Rahul 9, Gill 19) Scotty Boland making the pink ball do stuff. This time itâs off the same and jagging into the pad, via Rahulâs inside edge. Then passing him on the outside edge, making him draw inside the line.
Phil Withall writes in. âCummins seems to have started the day with a composed menace, like the silent enforcer from a Guy Ritchie film, confident, a man at ease with his ability to disrupt and demean. A man of intensity. Looking forward to watching how this develops.â
He does make a point of seeming relaxed for media spots, but heâs an intense competitor.
9th over: India 29-1 (Rahul 9, Gill 18) KL has decided that Gill canât have all the fun, and hurls his bat at width from Starc. Carves the drive up and over the cordon, streakily. Safer as he drives two through cover. So, India scoring alright despite teh early loss. Smells like rain is coming, with the windows open here at the Oval. The breeze has become much cooler in the last 10 minutes.
8th over: India 23-1 (Rahul 3, Gill 18) Time for an early bowling change. Cummins likes doing this â normally itâs him coming on for Hazlewood now â so that he can bring back the replaced opener in a few overs from the other end. This time itâs Scott Bolandâ¦
taking a wicket with his first ball! Hasnât played at home in two years, and nicks off Rahul. Smashed onto a length, rising sharply, past the shoulder of the bat as KL twists the handle. Carey appeals, KL Rahul immediately tucks the bat and walks off, Boland glances back at the umpire for confirmation and gets a nod, the Aussies celebrateâ¦
Scott Boland celebrates after dismissing KL Rahul but ⦠Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images
and then the no-ball is called. Overstepped by a fraction. And just as heâs about to commence several hours of kicking himself, the soundwave graph comes up and shows no spike. Nothing. Saying that KL didnât hit it. But he thought he did.
KL gets off the mark with two runs through square, then heâs dropped at slip! Another missed chance for Australia, pushing at the ball, Bolandâs fuller length and steep lift drawing the nick, but Khawaja set quite deep at first slip canât get across far enough. Collapses his right leg under his body trying to fall across to the dipping ball, gets the fingers of his right hand to it but thatâs all. Difficult one, but does Khawaja have the agility and reaction speed you need at slip?
⦠the Australia pacer oversteps the crease with his first delivery and the India opener survives. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
7th over: India 19-1 (Rahul 0, Gill 18) Gill scored heavily off Starc in Brisbane in 2021, and heâs doing it again here. Squeezes out a square drive through that gully gap again, though that comes after Starc swung a ball savagely back into the right-hander and smashed his pad. Too high and maybe swinging towards leg.
India’s Shubman Gill makes a bright start at Adelaide Oval after missing the first Test due to injury. Photograph: Michael Errey/AFP/Getty Images
6th over: India 15-1 (Rahul 0, Gill 14) Cummins then, with three slips and a gully set quite close to them. Rahul essays the leave-play shot, getting the ball down off the face into the cordon while holding the bat in his backlift. Then drops a rising ball off the sticker down near his feet, unsure where it went at first. Tough over.
5th over: India 15-1 (Rahul 0, Gill 14) Canât stop Gill scoring! On the up, but he leans into a cover drive with minimal follow-through and connects perfectly. Risk in the stroke but it brings him four. Thereâs a Starc overstep in the over as well.
4th over: India 10-1 (Rahul 0, Gill 10) Cummins making the ball sing again! Beats the edge a couple of times. But KL is picking up where he left off in Perth, letting those balls pass him without chasing them, leaving the safer wider ones, defending where he can. Soaking up the quality early over.
Rowan Sweeney is editing on the fly. âLast summer seems like a rather wasted opportunity to blood new talent, and this series could get a little brutal for Australia. Iâm picking Jaiswal to make anot Never mind, then. Howâs your day going, Geoff?â
It took a long time for this game to start, but glad to be underway.
3rd over: India 10-1 (Rahul 0, Gill 10) Starc to continue, nearly gets Gill with a rising ball on a narrow angle across, but Gill doesnât edge it. Does drive a brace, opening the face through cover. Such a productive scorer even under pressure.
Andrew Benton emails in. âHave Australia reset/rebooted themselves these past ten days, and if so, how? Do they have a new gameplan, have they made some tweaks for victory? Wicket. Oh. They do, and have.â
Well, they got Jaiswal for a duck in the first innings in Perth, too, and it didnât much help them when he made a massive ton in the second.
2nd over: India 8-1 (Rahul 0, Gill 8) Cummins will share the new ball, with Hazlewood out. And he cuts KL Rahul in half with a ball that buzzsaws in from outside the off stump, Rahul yanking the bat across and eventually getting it inside the line of the seam movement.
That makes 35 Tests that have started with a wicket. Starc and Pedro Collins the leaders with three instances. Twice for Geoff Arnold, Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev, and Suranga Lakmal.
India open KL Rahul makes a cautious start against Australia in the second Test. Photograph: Michael Errey/AFP/Getty Images
1st over: India 8-1 (Rahul 0, Gill 8) So Shubman Gill effectively has to open, and he does so by flashing a cut through gully for four! Might have carried to a catcher but itâs in the gap. Then when Starc pitches fuller heâs driven through mid off for another. Quite the eventful first over.
Thatâs the third time Starc has taken a wicket with the first ball of the match. Rory Burns, of course, at the Gabba, and when he was monstering Big Frank â Dimuth Karunaratne â during the 2016 tour of Sri Lanka.
The first player to do it was Arthur Coningham, who had a fascinating troubled life. We did a Story Time podcast about him if you want to dig that out.
WICKET! Jaiswal lbw Starc 0
Wicket first ball of the match! Starc does it, as the stattos scramble for the precedents. A fierce delivery with the new hot-pink ball. Bowling to a left-hander, it angles towards leg stump and then swings back markedly. Pitches in line with middle and leg, and continues towards leg stump, hitting it flush on the ball-tracking. Jaiswal doesnât review.
Weâre underwayâ¦
The anthems, then the commencement bell is rung by Tim May. A name that rings out in concert with this ground and with South Australian. Bowled good offies for Australia, 42 not out in the one-run loss to West Indies on this ground, and won the Shield final here in his last first-class match.
Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting carry the trophy out together. Memories of how Harbhajan tormented Ponting in 2001. His series went 0, 6, 0, 0, 11, and during the 11 he got dropped on 0.
Ricky Ponting and Harbhajan Singh wave to the crowd next to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
The pitch, you all cry. What about the pitch? It looks decent. Not as grassy as some in previous years. The curators here trust the pink ball now to keep its shine, so they donât leave the luxuriant leafage of the first few years. This strip has a few tinges down the edges but is straw toned down the business section. The grass here does go that colour while itâs still alive though, so there might be some grip for the bowlers, make it move sideways a touch. And then thereâs the hope of swing. Weâll see.
Australian captain Pat Cummins inspects the pitch at Adelaide Oval. Photograph: Dave Hunt/EPA
Australia Nathan McSweeney Usman Khawaja Marnus Labuschagne Steve Smith Travis Head Mitchell Marsh Alex Carey + Mitchell Starc Pat Cummins * Nathan Lyon Scott Boland
India captain Rohit Sharma returns to the side and wins the toss. Photograph: Dave Hunt/EPA
India win the toss and bat
The coin falls for the visitors! Rohit is back as skipper after Bumrahâs successful match deputising. He wants to put up a score.
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As for India, there are so many ways that could go. We now know that KL Rahul will remain as opener, and Rohit Sharma will bat âsomewhere in the middle,â as he offered yesterday at his captainâs press conference. So Dhruv Jurel is the omission that would accommodate that. Devdutt Padikkal will be the one for Shubman Gill if they make that change at No3.
The bowling is more interesting to me. Ravichandran Ashwin has 536 Test wickets. Ravindra Jadeja has 319. They were both left out in Perth for Washington Sundar, who has 24 wickets. And yeah, he batted ok, but Indiaâs great spinners can both bat as well. So, surely they have to give Ashwin a chance in Adelaide? Itâs criminal leaving him on the bench.
Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy probably did enough to keep his spot, maybe at No7, then for the quicks, Jasprit Bumrah certainly plays, Mohammad Siraj should although you never know what Indiaâs selection gambles may be, and the main question is whether they might prefer the swing of Akash Deep rather than the pace and bounce of Harshit Rana, which worked well in Perth but might have been a pick based on conditions.
How about a preview? I wrote one yesterday focusing on the Australian bowlers, letâs have that.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Hello! Here we are in Adelaide. Itâs crunch time for Australian cricket. The reaction was explosive after the home team got hammered by India in Perth in the first Test. Having ten days between engagements has helped things simmer down, but that simmer will soon return to a boil if India turn up the heat again. (Ok, weâll not stretch this metaphor any further.)
Itâs a five-Test series, so going 2-0 down is not technically the end of it, but from memory teams have only come back from that deficit twice in Test history. So if Australiaâs struggling batting gets rocked again here, theyâre in major strife. In their favour is the day-night format with the pink ball, which Australian players have seen more of than those of any other country.
Itâs stinking hot outside, as it has been the last few days, with a fan-forced oven sort of wind blustering across the city, but the clouds have come over today, which will give some respite to the side bowling. We may have some stormy precipitation at some stage in the afternoon. Who knows. Late last night the sky was flickering with dry lightning like a series of paper lanterns, but nary a drop fell.
The White House has gamed out a last-minute strategy to bolster Ukraine’s war position that involves an avalanche of military assistance and sweeping new sanctions against Russia, according to a background briefing from a National Security Council spokesperson.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with the head of the office of the Ukrainian president Andriy Yermakfor more than an hour on Thursday, committing to provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of rockets and hundreds of armored vehicles by mid-January, according to the briefing shared with the Guardian.
The US is also pledging to support Ukraine’s manpower challenge, offering to train new troops at sites outside Ukrainian territory. This comes alongside a nearly finalized $20bn in loans, which will be backed by profits from immobilized Russian sovereign assets.
The United States is tying that to a number of new sanctions to come in the coming weeks, all with the intent of complicating Russia’s ability to sustain its war effort and boosting Ukraine’s bargaining power at the negotiation table that could lay the groundwork for a future settlement.
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The White House’s latest move comes a little more than a month in advance of Donald Trump’s inauguration, when the US may unload an all-new strategy for a ceasefire altogether.
According to a Reuters report, the president-elect’s team is quietly developing a peace proposal for Ukraine that would effectively sideline Nato membership and potentially cede significant territory to Russia, signaling a dramatic shift from current US policy. Trump, for his part, has often stated that he would end the Ukraine and Russia war within 24 hours.
Still, Ukrainian officials, including Yermak and Ambassador Oksana Markarova, have been meeting with key figures in Trump’s transition team this week, including JD Vance, Florida representative and potential National security adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s pick for Russia and Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, in a bid to secure continued support.
These meetings carry heightened urgency, particularly after House speaker Mike Johnson blocked a vote on $24bn in additional aid to Ukraine. The Pentagon has nonetheless committed to sending $725m in military assistance this week, the largest shipment since April.
Britainâs rare rainforests are home to wildlife from eagles to the worldâs largest slugs and lichen looks like dragon skin, say conservationists battling to save them.
The Woodland Trust has unveiled a list of 11 âweird and wonderfulâ species that make their home in and around temperate rainforests found in the south-west and north-west of England, Wales and Scotland.
The forests once covered a fifth of Britain, but they have been lost from all but 1% of land area in the face of felling, overgrazing and conversion to other uses, face ongoing pressures including invasive species and are more threatened than their tropical counterparts, conservationists say.
Yet they are home to a âhuge diversity and abundance of speciesâ, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth, according to conservation experts who have launched a project to restore and increase rainforests in the UK.
Close to the ocean, with temperate climates and high rainfall of more than 1.4 metres a year, the forests provide damp, humid conditions that can be a haven for more than 200 species of bryophytes such as mosses, and 100 to 200 species of lichen.
The species making their home in Britainâs rainforests include:
Stinky lichen (Sticta sylvatica), which has a smell like fish.
Tree lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria), which has frilly fronds like the inside of lungs and was thought to be a treatment for lung disease by Anglo Saxons and medieval people. It is one of Englandâs rarest lichens, a survivor of the ancient wildwood that grew in Britain after the last ice age, and its presence has traditionally been an indicator of a healthy woodland.
Tree lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria). Photograph: Stuart Walker/National Trust/PA
The blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus), one of the UKâs rarest and a sign of a healthy rainforest.
Blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus). Photograph: Nick Royle/Exeter University
The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), the UKâs largest bird of prey, which is making a comeback after becoming extinct here in the early 20th century, and which often nests in rainforests and hunts in the nearby sea, bringing nutrients back to the forest.
Hazel gloves fungus (Hypocreopsis rhododendri), which grows exclusively on old hazel trees and looks like intestines, is a sign of clean air and a woodâs ancient roots.
Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), a bird that loves rainforests for their abundance of insects, including flying insects that they catch from the air using perches among tree branches from which to dart at passing prey.
Male Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). Photograph: Richard Becker/Woodland Trust
The ash black slug (Limax cinereoniger), considered to be the worldâs largest land slug as it can grow to 25cm long (10in) and which has a bizarre mating ritual in which a couple suspend themselves from a tree in a sticky mucus to mate.
The ash black slug (Limax cinereoniger). Photograph: Malaui/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Beavers (Castor fiber), another once-extinct species that has returned to the UK, this time to its rivers, where they build dams and create new wetland habitats which help maintain the damp conditions crucial for the rainforests.
Green satin lichen (Lobaria virens), which turns green when wet and stretches out like a dragonâs skin.
Green satin lichen (Lobaria virens). Photograph: John MacPherson/Woodland Trust
Octopus suckers (Collema fasciculare) â a jelly lichen that looks like clusters of dark octopus suckers, and performs a useful role in taking nitrogen out of the atmosphere and making it available as fertiliser for other plants.
Octopus suckers (Collema fasciculare). Photograph: Andy Acton/Woodland Trust
Wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), which can be found in the rivers that often run through temperate rainforests, and bring ocean nutrients into the woodland as they swim upstream into the freshwater environment.
The Woodland Trust and Plantlife are working together in the north-west and south-west of England to manage and restore ancient woodland habitats within and around temperate rainforests over 27 sites, as part of the governmentâs £2.9m rainforest restoration project.
Sam Manning, the Woodland Trust project officer for south-west rainforests, said: âOur rainforests were once a well-used resource, providing timber, charcoal and tannin for tanning leather. But they have suffered from clearances, chronic overgrazing and conversion to other uses, leaving them small and fragmented.
âAs our top 11 shows, these rainforests are home to some really special wildlife, which is why we are working with other charities and partners to form alliances to restore these unique environments.â
Georgia Stephens, rainforest adviser north-west for Plantlife, said: âTemperate rainforests are precious habitats that can support a huge diversity and abundance of species, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
âThey are home to some incredibly rare lichens and bryophytes that have been around for millions of years, pre-dating humans, flowers, trees and even dinosaurs.
âThis list demonstrates the unique qualities of these species and the urgent need to protect, restore and manage rainforests well for future generations.â
In the aftermath of the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, while Thompsonâs colleagues grieve and politicians decry his murder, some online discussion has shown little sympathy for Thompson or the industry he represented.
Instead, social media has been in engulfed in expressions of anger at many Americansâ dire experiences at the hands of health insurance companies and outrage at the large profits that they generate.
That belies the shock also generated by the brutality of Thompsonâs death. The killing appeared premeditated and calculated.
A gunman dressed in black waited for Thompson outside the midtown Manhattan Hilton where he was scheduled to speak at an investorâs meeting, approached him from behind with a handgun fitted with a silencer, and shot and killed the executive, according to police.
He fled on an ebike into Central Park. A manhunt is ongoing. The motive is unknown.
Andrew Witty, CEO of the parent company, UnitedHealth Group, called the attack âa terrible tragedyâ in a message sent to company employees and shared with the Guardian.
âOur hearts are with his family, especially his mom, his wife Paulie, his brother and his two boys, who lost a father today,â Witty said.
Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic US Senator from Minnesota, described the killing as âa horrifying and shocking act of violenceâ.
But in contrast, one commenter on CNNâs Instagram post about Thompsonâs death wrote: âCanât find the room to care over my daughterâs $60,000 cancer treatment. Thoughts and prayers.â
Another said: âAn innocent victim was gunned down in cold blood. Have a heart regardless of your health insurance.â
Vacillating between the condemnation of violence and dark humor, celebratory memes and outright violent rhetoric, comments on social media highlight the deep and often unpleasant connection Americans have with their own health system.
An expert in political violence told the Guardian he sees this as part of the USâs growing acceptance of violence as a way to settle civil disputes.
âNow the norms of violence are spreading into the commercial sector,â said Robert Pape, director of the University of Chicagoâs project on security and threats. âThatâs what I saw when I saw this.â
Although the motive for the killing is unknown, it has not stopped rampant speculation that there was an obvious candidate â Thompsonâs work in corporate health insurance. That speculation was only furthered by the discovery of shell casings scrawled with the words âdenyâ, âdeposeâ and âdefendâ in permanent marker.
âWhat I think weâre really experiencing as a country is the erosion against norms,â said Pape, with the little sympathy among the âbody politicâ expressed in social media as one more example. âThat means, basically, seeing violence as the more normal tool, or acceptable tool, to resolve what should be straightforward civil disputes resolved in nonviolent ways.â
Thompsonâs killing also laid bare the threat that healthcare executives face in a season of American violence â from insurers to pharma to hospitals.
âIt doesnât seem paranoid to worry that someone whoâs had services denied that they may believe are important might be in an emotionally unstable state and could take some action,â Michael Sherman, former chief medical officer at Point32Health, told Stat, a health industry publication. âThe most likely targets would be the chief medical officer ⦠or the CEO.â
Comments online did not single out Thompson, a 50-year-old licensed accountant who reportedly kept a low profile. Instead, they were targeted at an industry often seen as a despised fact of life in America. Comments laced âjokesâ with the sting of denial, delay, debt and impenetrable bureaucracy, all ubiquitous and reviled experiences for the throngs of Americans who are now or have been insured through a private company.
Another comment: âDoes he have a history of shootings? Denied coverage.â
Ranked by size, UnitedHealth Group is one of the biggest companies in the world. Measured by its market capitalization of $539bn it tops household names such as Mastercard and ExxonMobil. The company is one of the biggest private insurers in the nation, providing health coverage to more than 50 million Americans spanning employer insurance all the way to the elderly through Medicare Advantage.
Thompson ran the insurance division of the company as a reportedly longtime employee who kept a low profile. With an enormous footprint, it is also the subject of near constant scrutiny.
Thompson himself was part of an investigation into insider trading at the company. Early this year, after the Department of Justice began an inquiry into monopolistic practices, executives at United sold $101m in stocks, including Thompson, who sold $15m, before the public became aware of the investigation, according to Crainâs New York Business. Witty was hauled in for congressional testimony over a cyber-attack in February that caused severe disruptions across the healthcare industry. UnitedHealthcare has been criticized as denying care to vulnerable patients.
While security executives for leading Fortune 500 companies gathered on Wednesday, others marveled in public that Thompson was unaccompanied on his way to the annual investor conference.
Michael Julian, CEO of MPS Security & Protection, told Axios that he âwas shocked the guy didnât have a protective detailâ, implying that a head of an American healthcare giant would be an obvious target for the potentially aggrieved.
âWhether this technically will fit the pigeonhole of political violence or not, it obviously will be an important issue,â said Pape, whose recent study showed a dramatic increase in instances of violent threats against both Democrats and Republicans since about 2017, the beginning of the first Trump term.
âBut it also misses the bigger picture of whatâs been happening in our country.â
