The ‘unitary executive’ theory – backed by some conservative lawyers – is largely bogus. But it could wreak havoc on democracy

While Democrats are dithering and debating with consultants about which anti-Trumpian strategy to adopt, courts are confronted with an unprecedented power grab by the president. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are simply not spending money appropriated by Congress, which in turn is unwilling to play its constitutional role and assert the power of the purse. Entire agencies are de facto dismantled – which is also unconstitutional – and civil servants protected from removal by a president keep getting pink slips.

The illegality of it all seems so obvious that one would think defenders of democracy could relax and trust judges to do the right thing. But it’s not just that some judges seem to be in the president’s pocket – as evidenced by Trump, after his address to Congress, patting the supreme court’s chief justice on the back and thanking him for a favor he won’t forget, mafia-style. It is also that some jurists have been itching to defend a further concentration of presidential power – John Roberts likely among them.

Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of politics at Princeton University and is a Guardian US columnist

Investor–state dispute settlements don’t just mean growing debt burdens for countries: they are also a barrier to action on the climate crisis

Donald Trump has thrown a hand grenade into the global economic architecture, destroying some things that are working well. But amid the devastation, some things seem to be surviving that really should be taken down. Among the most notable of these is an arcane set of international agreements by which private investors can sue governments, known as ISDS: investor-state dispute settlement. These disputes are litigated not in public courts with impartial judges but in private arbitration – behind closed doors, and rife with conflicts of interest.

Early on, when they were snuck into many trade agreements, no one paid much attention. For instance, these provisions in Nafta, the so-called free trade agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada, never got a discussion within the cabinet while I served in the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton when Nafta got adopted.

Once again Lara Croft has appeared near the top of an arbitrary list of the hottest video game characters – but when are we going to admit there’s something about Luigi’s eyes?

Is Lara Croft hot? It’s a question that’s plagued our greatest minds for almost three decades. Yes, she appeared on the cover of the Face magazine next to the tagline “bigger than Pammy” in 1997, and yes, in 2006 lad mag FHM created a whole TV special designed to find the “real” tomb raider. But what does science say? In a world where American academics can’t use the word “women” without jeopardising their scientific funding, it’s a relief that a gambling site called Casino Days is willing to do this important work, recently ranking “The Top 10 Most Attractive Video Game Characters According to Science”.

Using the so-called “golden ratio” – which determines how beautiful someone is by measuring their facial features – the company has found that Lara Croft is the second most attractive video game character in the virtual world. In a move that will finally leave women with nothing to complain about, first place goes to The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia.