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The Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin is in a critical condition in hospital after he had a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field last night, with NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals suspended after the incident.
Hamlin was administered CPR and was surrounded by teammates, some of them in tears, after he was hurt while tackling Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.
Higgins led with his right shoulder, which hit Hamlin in the chest. Hamlin then wrapped his arms around Higgins’s shoulders and helmet to drag him down. Hamlin got to his feet, appeared to adjust his face mask with his right hand, and then fell backward about three seconds later and lay motionless.
Hamlin was treated on the field by his team and independent medical personnel and local paramedics, the NFL said, and he was taken by ambulance to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Teammate Stefon Diggs later joined Hamlin at the hospital.
Trump seems to have a large war chest – but is he struggling to raise money?
With his 2024 presidential candidacy officially kicked into gear, Donald Trump would seem poised to enter the Republican nomination race a step ahead: his Pacs and committees boast a war chest of about $95m, enough to give pause to the Republican candidates jockeying against him.
But a scratch beneath the surface reveals a different reality. About $78m of the $95m cannot be directly used for Trump’s campaign, according to a Guardian analysis of the Trump fundraising web.
What’s more, there’s evidence the small-dollar donor stream that fuelled his past runs is drying up. Some high-profile mega-donors have fled. And a campaign finance watchdog has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over Trump allegedly violating “soft money” laws as he appears to play a shell game with his cash.
“There are a lot of moving parts, but there are a lot of reasons to believe that Trump is struggling more than he has in recent years to raise money,” said Robert Maguire, research director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
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Are former supporters deserting him? Some are, yes. Among those defecting from Trump’s large-donor battalion are his top 2016 contributors, Robert and Rebekah Mercer, CNBC reported. The billionaires have instead donated to his likely primary rival, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis. The hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who threw about $67m in the midterms, has also backed DeSantis.
Jeremy Renner out of surgery after accident, but remains in critical condition
Jeremy Renner has undergone surgery after sustaining blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries in an accident on Sunday, and remains in a critical but stable condition, the actor’s publicist has confirmed.
The 51-year-old actor was seriously injured while driving a snow plow near his home in Reno, Nevada, on New Year’s Day, and was airlifted to hospital. The Avengers star underwent surgery for his injuries on Monday and remains in intensive care, his publicist said last night.
“Jeremy’s family would like to express their gratitude to the incredible doctors and nurses looking after him, Truckee Meadows fire and rescue, Washoe County sheriff, Reno City mayor, Hillary Schieve, and the Carano and Murdock families,” his publicist said in a statement. “They are also tremendously overwhelmed and appreciative of the outpouring of love and support from his fans.”
The actor has owned a ranch in Washoe County for years. Northern Nevada was hit by a winter storm on New Year’s Eve that caused 35,000 homes to lose power. Much of the US has been hit by the “blizzard of the century” over the past week, and at least 60 people have died countrywide.
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What happened to Renner? TMZ reported witness accounts from Renner’s neighbors, who said the actor was plowing a road on Sunday morning so his family could get out after a snowstorm. One neighbor said that, despite its safety features, the Sno-Cat plow ran over one of Renner’s legs. He reportedly lost a lot of blood from the injury and another neighbor, who is a doctor, put a tourniquet on his leg until paramedics arrived.
In other news …
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Hope Hicks, a former key ally of Donald Trump, texted another White House aide “we all look like domestic terrorists now” as the then president’s supporters overran the US Capitol. It is part of revelatory exchange between the pair released as supporting evidence by the January 6 House committee.
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Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation had a calamitous 2022 – managing to anger everyone from Taylor Swift to Joe Biden. As calls grow for action to rein in the concert monopoly in the US and abroad, the company seems to have hit on a new strategy: spending big in Washington.
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The extreme-right Israeli firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir has visited Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound for the first time since becoming a minister, his spokesperson has said, angering Palestinians who see the move as a provocation.
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The US government has accused the former marine pilot Daniel Duggan of receiving more than $100,000 to teach Chinese aviators how to land on aircraft carriers. An unsealed indictment, filed in the US District of Columbia, alleges the naturalised Australian received 12 payments of either $9,900 or $9,500.
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Pro rally driver Ken Block, who later became an internet sensation with his daring stunts behind the wheel, died aged 55 after a snowmobile accident, his team Hoonigan Racing said. The local sheriff’s office said Block was riding on a steep slope when the snowmobile upended and landed on top of him.
Stat of the day: 1m yen a child to leave Tokyo – Japan’s offer to families
Japan’s government is offering ¥1m ($7,500) per child to families who move out of greater Tokyo, in an attempt to reverse population decline in the regions. The incentive – a dramatic rise from the previous relocation fee of ¥300,000 – will be introduced in April, according to Japanese media reports. Although Tokyo’s population fell for the first time last year, policymakers believe more should be done to lower the city’s population density and encourage people to start new lives in “unfashionable” parts of the country that have been hit by ageing, shrinking populations and the migration of younger people to big cities.
Don’t miss this: 52 acts of kindness – how to spread joy in every week of 2023
Navel-gazing is always a danger at this time of year – and not just to admire the results of a two-week assault on the fridge. Indoctrinated by “new year, new you” messaging, we fixate on self-optimisation: one hand dredging the Celebrations tub and the other searching online for “hot yoga near me” or “should I read Ulysses?” But there is another way to be better: by doing something kind. This doesn’t mean giving money (welcome though that always is), it’s about giving your time, empathy, support and thought – finding ways to help the people around you. Whether fostering kittens, donating blood or delivering boxes of biscuits to striking workers, there has never been a better time to help out. And it will improve your life too.
… or this: Is America suffering a ‘social recession’?
Polling has demonstrated a marked decline in all spheres of social life, including close friendships, intimate relationships, trust, labor participation and community involvement. The continuing shift has been called the “friendship recession” or the “social recession” – and, although it will take years before this is clearly established, it was almost certainly worsened by the pandemic. The decline comes alongside a documented rise in mental illness, diseases of despair and poor health more generally, writes Anton Cebalo. While data and polling have their limits, they are a useful starting point for concretely discussing the social recession and whether it’s here to stay.
Climate check: The hidden underwater forests that could help tackle the climate crisis
Bubbles stream furiously behind Frank Hurd as he gently parts the curtains of giant kelp. Green and gold ribbons reach upwards through the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean towards the sun, writes Lucy Sherriff. Hurd, a marine biologist with environmental organisation the Nature Conservancy, is diving in a kelp forest off Anacapa Island, one of the protected rocky volcanic islets that form the Channel Islands national park, an archipelago off the coast of southern California. Kelp absorbs carbon dioxide and has high nutritional value, but it is under threat from rising temperatures, pollution and invasive species.
Last Thing: How Canadians got their beloved breakfast cereal back
When a beloved cereal in Canada was abruptly discontinued by its makers, the JM Smucker Company, in 2021 because of poor sales, there was an outpouring of disbelief, frustration and grief that belied the simple – even bland – makeup of the cereal. But it’s been a bad few years for beloved foodstuffs in Canada. Earlier this year, two well-loved cream cheese brands were also discontinued, leading one local grocery store to call the loss of Western Family cream cheese a “devastating blow”. And so the unlikely return of Red River in recent months, after the rights were acquired by a small Ontario mill, marks a rare bright spot for lovers of the viscous – and divisive – hot cereal.
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