Author: TheGuardian

Suicide rates have jumped substantially among young military veterans, according to new data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans aged 18 to 34 have higher rates of suicide than any other age group, the VA says in its National Suicide Data Report. The rate for those young veterans increased to 45 suicide deaths per 100,000 population in 2016, up from 40.4 in 2015, even as the overall veteran suicide rate decreased slightly. Many vets in that age group served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “This isn’t just alarming. It’s a national emergency that requires immediate...

With just a few thousand votes between the two candidates for governor, election night during the US midterms in Wisconsin could not have been more tense. The slender lead kept flipping between Republican and Democrat as various precincts reported their results. Then shortly before midnight a local news presenter suggested, almost as an aside, that there could be about 40,000 more votes yet to be counted from the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee. A week earlier, at a Republican event in nearby rural Kenosha, Milwaukee had been a punchline – an emblem of crime-ridden, multiracial, urban dysfunction. But they weren’t...

George H.W. Bush, who as the 41st president shepherded the United States through a turbulent period in global relations that included the breakup of the Soviet Union and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, has died. He was 94. A statement from his office said: “George Herbert Walker Bush, world war two naval aviator, Texas oil pioneer, and 41st president of the United States of America, died on 30 November 2018. “He was 94 and is survived by his five children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and two siblings. He was preceded in death by his wife of...

A special interview for The Guardian by Alison Flood Incest, dragons, gore… with fans awaiting the next book in his hit series, the novelist talks about fame, expectations – and the new 300-year history of the Targaryens in Westeros. Strict instructions are issued before interviewing George RR Martin: do not ask about The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, the one fans keep haranguing him about and Martin has been writing since 2011. Focus on Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones (A Targaryen History), his imagined...

The registers at brick-and-mortar stores did not ring as frequently last Christmas, because more consumers opted to buy their presents earlier, on Black Friday, the annual event where shops slash prices to boost sales. This year it will take place on 23 November and will be followed three days later by Cyber Monday, another consumer focused sales push aimed at people spending online. So popular have these days become that they encouraged shoppers to increase their spending last year despite a protracted squeeze on household income. It is likely that once again all the big retailers will take part...

It is tempting to find reassurance in the comparison: America survived the turmoil, division and bloodshed of 1968. I find no basis for such solace. During the turbulent year in 1968, when I achieved Jewish manhood as a barmitzvah, I took on a more concrete form of maturity with a job delivering newspapers. Making the rounds of my New Jersey hometown, tossing copies of the Daily Home News onto 70-odd porches, I almost literally trafficked in the tragedies captured in each banner headline. My mother was doing the favor of driving me along my route on the rainy April...