Category Archives: US Politics

Ohio Republican Max Miller faces growing calls to resign over domestic abuse allegations

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Miller calls women accusing him liars as Republican senator Bernie Moreno says former son-in-law unfit for Congress

Max Miller, the beleaguered US Republican representative from Ohio, has vowed to defy a rising groundswell of resignation calls from his own party over domestic abuse allegations after his ex-father-in-law, Bernie Moreno, a GOP senator, said he was unfit to serve in Congress.

In a combative interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Miller turned the tables by attacking Moreno, accused three women – including his ex-wife – of lying by saying he had been violent towards them, and invoked Donald Trump in insisting that he would not resign.

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Michigan votes in key Senate primary as Democrats battle over party’s future

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Progressive Abdul El-Sayed leads in polls against centrist Haley Stevens as party looks to regain control of US Senate

The Democratic party faces a crucial test of its direction today as voters in the midwestern swing state of Michigan decide whether to nominate for US Senate a progressive candidate advocating for universal healthcare or an-establishment-backed moderate.

The state’s Democratic primary is the latest high-profile battle over the party’s future, as it seeks to chart a course back to power in Washington following Donald Trump’s victory in 2024.

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Crews building Trump border wall in drought-hit New Mexico ordered to stop drilling wells

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Residents and farmers say contractors have tapped border aquifers that threaten water supply for those nearby

Construction crews building a border wall in New Mexico were ordered to stop drilling new wells after ranchers said that pumping groundwater to produce concrete could threaten their livestock amid a severe drought.

The order comes as crews across the southern border race to complete one of Donald Trump’s highest domestic priorities – barriers that span four states and received over $46bn in federal funding. Controversies have sprouted up in Texas and California, and border-town residents and environmentalists have reported a wide variety of issues with construction.

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Kay Granger, first Texas Republican woman elected to House, dies aged 83

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Representative who did not seek re-election in 2024 died of Alzheimer’s disease, her son said

Kay Granger, who served in the US House for almost three decades as the first elected Republican woman from Texas, died on Sunday, her family said. She was 83.

The cause of death, according to her son JD Granger, was Alzheimer’s disease.

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RFK Jr tells US families to vaccinate children against measles amid outbreak

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Health secretary, longtime vaccination skeptic, spent years boosting misinformation about vaccines including MMR

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, on Sunday told American parents that they should get their children vaccinated against measles, as the surge in infections has reached numbers not seen in the past 35 years.

Kennedy, a leading vaccination skeptic who has spent years amplifying misinformation about vaccines, including the shot that protects against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), made his call in the course of a contentious interview with CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning.

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US representative Marcy Kaptur taken to hospital after car crash

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Toledo police say Ohio Democrat is active and alert after two-vehicle hit-and-run collision on Sunday

Marcy Kaptur is being treated ⁠for non-life-threatening injuries after a car crash in Toledo, ⁠Ohio, on Sunday, ⁠the ​Democratic US representative’s office said.

Kaptur, 80, was a passenger ⁠in the vehicle and on her way to church, her office ⁠said. Toledo police did not ​respond to ‌a request from Reuters for ‌comment.

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Republican calls for Max Miller to resign from Congress amid abuse allegations

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Senator Bernie Moreno says congressman and former son-in-law should step down after ex-wife’s allegations

Republican senator Bernie Moreno on Sunday publicly called for Representative Max Miller, his ex son-in-law, to step down from Congress amid allegations of domestic and child abuse.

As recently as Friday, the Ohio senator had avoided giving his opinion directly on accusations made by his daughter, Emily Moreno, against the congressman.

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Capital One says it closed Trump Organization’s accounts after anti-money-laundering review

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Disclosure from 2021 investigation marks first time a bank has formally tied money-laundering concerns to Donald Trump

Capital One Financial hit back on Friday against a lawsuit over its ⁠decision to close the Trump ⁠Organization’s bank accounts ​years ago, stating that it did so after a review by anti-money-laundering experts.

The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money-laundering concerns to Donald Trump’s family business. Capital One is seeking to dismiss the case by casting doubt on claims of illegally debanking – or denying services on religious or political grounds – the Trump Organization.

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US reporter fighting back after border patrol seized his cell phones

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Max Blumenthal says he was singled out at airport after Trump ally Laura Loomer targeted him in online posts

When reporter Max Blumenthal went to a cafe in Tehran one night a few weeks ago to upload videos from his reporting on the funeral of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, he began seeing social media posts from Trump ally Laura Loomer targeting him, including one that suggested he should be “taken off the plane by US Marshalls when he lands back in the US … [and] detained”.

“I began to prepare myself for being harassed on my return,” Blumenthal said.

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Trump vows to push $1.8bn slush fund as Senate committee set to reconsider AG nomination

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After declaring ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘dead’, Trump reverses and says he’ll revive it despite Senate opposition

The US Senate judiciary committee has scheduled a meeting early next week to consider Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general, as Donald Trump promised to revive the controversial $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund.

The meeting, set for Tuesday, comes as Blanche’s confirmation ​has stalled over a dispute between the president and outgoing Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who are seeking written confirmation that the justice department would not establish the proposed fund.

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Democrats’ ‘climate hushing’ prompts activists to turn up the volume

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Nationwide actions seek to counter view that talking about climate crisis distracts from affordability messaging

This summer, torrential rains have washed away Texas neighborhoods, dangerous heat has blanketed swaths of the country, and smoke from Canadian wildfires has choked communities as far south as Florida.

Research makes clear that global warming is making extreme weather events more frequent and severe. Yet the climate crisis has largely disappeared from the political agenda, with many Democrats who once described it as an existential threat now shying away from talking about it.

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Gavin Newsom reveals personal income of $1.7m-$2m in tax return release

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California governor and wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, release 2022-2024 filings amid Trump investigation

Gavin Newsom and his wife made from $1.7m to $2m annually from 2022 through 2024, and paid about half a million a year in federal and state taxes, according to tax returns released by his office.

The California Democratic governor’s office released more than 700 pages of tax filings spanning four years for reporters to review, offering a window into Newsom’s finances as he prepares to leave office and considers a 2028 presidential bid. Newsom’s office did not release returns for 2025, because the couple filed for an extension and will complete those returns in October.

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Iran strikes tankers under US escort in Hormuz strait as Trump gathers cabinet to discuss war

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Energy prices have soared again since fighting between US and Iran resumed two weeks ago as conflict spreads across Middle East

Iran has said it struck two tankers trying to pass through the strait of Hormuz under the escort of the US military as Donald Trump gathered his cabinet to discuss the stalling war and rising prices as midterm elections in the US loom.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Friday that the “non-compliant oil tankers … were struck and brought to a halt, while four other oil tankers quickly changed course and returned to their previous positions”. The military body said the ships had tried to pass through the strait via an “undeclared route” and under US aerial escort.

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Mandela Barnes drops out of high-stakes Wisconsin governor’s race

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Former lieutenant governor says path to Democratic nomination no longer viable as democratic socialist rival surges ahead

Mandela Barnes, the former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, dropped out of the Democratic primary for governor on Thursday, upending the high-stakes contest less than two weeks before the 11 August election.

Barnes announced the decision in a video posted on social media, saying he no longer saw a viable path to the nomination, as democratic socialist Francesca Hong surged ahead with a commanding lead.

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A quarter of young Africans believe USAID cuts could be positive, survey finds

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Losing funds should force leaders to confront their own challenges, they said, while many voiced concerns over increasing foreign influence

A quarter of young Africans believe aid cuts by the US could have a positive impact, saying that losing foreign money will force leaders to confront and solve their own challenges, according to a new survey.

In Ghana and Nigeria, almost half (41% and 40% respectively) of young people aged 18 to 24 were optimistic, with Liberia not far behind (37%). A further one in 10 (11%) young people were uncertain about the impact, according to the African Youth Survey, which interviewed almost 5,000 people across 16 of the continent’s 54 recognised countries.

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Trump’s pick for US attorney general Todd Blanche in jeopardy as vote postponed

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Republican John Cornyn says he will not back nomination without written confirmation $1.8bn slush fund is dead

Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming US attorney general seemed to be in jeopardy on Wednesday after the Department of Justice did not provide written assurances to a key Republican senator that a $1.8bn slush fund was dead.

The US Senate judiciary committee postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination.

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Fauci invokes fifth amendment and declines to testify in Senate Covid hearing

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Adviser to Trump and Biden for pandemic says Republican senator has ‘unhinged obsession’ with him

Anthony Fauci, who served as a key adviser to Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the Covid-19 pandemic, has refused to answer questions at a high-profile congressional hearing, accusing a Republican senator of having an “unhinged obsession” with him.

Fauci, the veteran former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), invoked his constitutional right against incrimination when appearing before a Senate committee on Wednesday.

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‘Our country is the mission’: more than 100 ex-Nasa astronauts launch new voting campaign

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Astronauts for America liken effort to instill trust and faith back in constitution’s principles and democratic institutions to ‘making a course correction’

Orbiting 250 miles above the US in the international space station, astronaut Cady Coleman did not look down and see red or blue states, sanctuary cities or communities occupied by thousands of federal immigration enforcement agents in camouflage uniforms and automatic weapons.

What she saw was a single land, from Pacific to Atlantic, no borders or partitions, just a united America, and a population valuing its equality while convinced that what brought them together was far greater than anything that divided them.

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Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’ in calls for PM’s arrest

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Israeli prime minister says ICC’s war crime charges are ‘bogus’ and plans to be in New York for UN gathering this fall

Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, is “fomenting hate” by calling the Israeli prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over Israel’s war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations general assembly.

Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said on Wednesday that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world’s top war crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.

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‘Not standard’ for Taylor Farms to ask White House to delay cyclospora recall, ex-FDA head says

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Scott Gottlieb responds to report that company contacted the White House seeking to delay a recall announcement

Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that it was “not standard operating procedure” for Taylor Farms to ask the White House to intervene as the company prepared to announce a recall tied to a massive cyclospora outbreak.

Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, Gottlieb was asked about a report from the Wall Street Journal that Taylor Farms contacted the White House seeking to delay a recall announcement while federal investigators were preparing to publicly link the company to the multi-state outbreak.

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