Category Archives: US News

Tesla share plunge amid Trump feud wipes $152bn off Elon Musk’s company

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Car company’s shares dropped by 14.2% and its billionaire CEO’s net worth reduced by $8.73bn

Tesla’s shares dropped by about 14.2% on Thursday at market close, wiping roughly $152bn off the value of the company as a feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump erupted into public view. The former political allies traded threats and insults through posts on their respective social media platforms throughout the afternoon as the company’s price fell.

Trump suggested on Truth Social that he could cut Musk’s government subsidies and contracts, of which both Tesla and SpaceX have been immense beneficiaries. Musk meanwhile threatened to decommission the SpaceX spacecraft that Nasa relies on for transport missions, called for Trump’s impeachment, derided the president’s signature tariffs and accused him of being affiliated with the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk said late Thursday evening his company will not decommission its spacecraft.

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Donald Trump to meet Xi Jinping in China after ‘very good’ call on trade

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US president says he accepted invitation in first phone conversation between leaders since January

Donald Trump said he had accepted an invitation to meet Xi Jinping in China after a phone conversation on trade was held between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the “very good” call lasted about 90 minutes and the conversation was “almost entirely focused on trade”.

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Supreme court strikes down Mexico’s lawsuit against US gunmakers

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Lawsuit alleged that Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms aided the illegal trafficking of firearms to drug cartels

The US supreme court on Thursday spared two American gun companies from a lawsuit by Mexico’s government accusing them of aiding illegal firearms trafficking to drug cartels and fueling gun violence on the south side of the US-Mexico border.

The justices, in a unanimous ruling, overturned a lower court’s decision that had allowed the lawsuit to proceed against the firearms maker Smith & Wesson and distributor Interstate Arms. The lower court had found that Mexico plausibly alleged that the companies aided and abetted illegal gun sales, harming its government.

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Amazon ‘testing humanoid robots to deliver packages’

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Tech firm is building ‘humanoid park’ in US to try out robots, which could ‘spring out’ of its vans

Amazon is reportedly developing software for humanoid robots that could perform the role of delivery workers and “spring out” of its vans.

The $2tn technology company is building a “humanoid park” in the US to test the robots, said the tech news site the Information, citing a person who had been involved in the project.

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Trump travel ban to ‘sow division and vilify communities’ – US politics live

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President brings in ban for visitors from 12 countries and restricts travel from a further seven

Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into Joe Biden’s actions as president, alleging top aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline”.

The investigation will build on a Republican-led campaign already under way to discredit the former president and overturn some of his executive actions, including pardons and federal rules issued towards the end of his term in office.

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Trump signs proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard

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US president says it would jeopardize national security to allow university to keep hosting international students

Donald Trump signed a proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard University, the White House said on Wednesday.

The order would suspend for an initial six months the entry into the US of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard. Trump declared that it would jeopardize national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students.

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US vetoes resolution for unconditional Gaza ceasefire at UN security council

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Russia, China, France and the UK all voted in favour of ‘immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire’

The United States has vetoed a United Nations security council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza while the 14 remaining countries on the council voted in favour.

The vetoed resolution also called the situation in Gaza “catastrophic”, and demanded the “immediate and unconditional lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and its safe and unhindered distribution at scale, including by the UN and humanitarian partners”.

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Canadian wildfires prompt air-quality alerts across five US states

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Officials in New York, New Jersey, Iowa, New Hampshire and Maine issued alerts due to smoke from fires in Canada

Smoke from wildfires in Canada is spreading across multiple states in the US including the eastern seaboard, prompting multiple states to issue air-quality alerts.

The poor air quality stretching across the US came as a result of dozens of wildfires burning across Canada as the country’s annual wildfire season roars into destructive action.

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MyPillow’s Mike Lindell faces trial and plans to testify about 2020 election lies

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The case, brought by former Dominion employee Eric Coomer, could deepen Lindell’s legal and financial troubles

A trial underway in Colorado could add to the financial problems facing the pillow salesman and prominent election denier Mike Lindell and will serve as another test of whether defamation law can be effective to fight false claims about elections.

Opening statements began Tuesday in a case brought by Eric Coomer, who formerly worked in security and voting technology strategy for voting machine company Dominion. Coomer sued Lindell and a host of others who spread unproven claims that he interfered with the 2020 election. .

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Russell Simmons sues HBO and film-makers over documentary detailing alleged sexual abuse

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Music executive claims defamation in suit seeking $20m from the film-makers and distributors of On the Record

Russell Simmons is suing HBO and the film-makers of a 2020 documentary detailing allegations against the music mogul of sexual abuse, claiming that together they defamed him and ignored his version of events.

On The Record, directed by Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick, expanded on reporting by the New York Times, the Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles Times and other publications on numerous allegations against Simmons. It featured the testimony of several women who claim they were sexually assaulted by Simmons in the 1980s and 90s, when he was at the height of his influence as the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, the hip-hop label behind LL Cool J, Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys and other top acts.

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Man linked to fatal bombing of Palm Springs fertility clinic arrested

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FBI detains 32-year-old from Washington state over links to blast in which authorities believe bomber died

The FBI arrested a man in connection with last month’s bombing of a facility clinic in Palm Springs, California, US authorities said on Wednesday.

Daniel Park, a 32-year-old US citizen who lives in Kent, Washington, was taken into custody at John F Kennedy airport in New York on Tuesday after he was deported from Poland, said Bill Essayli, a US attorney for California, at a press conference. Park allegedly provided materials for explosives to the person who carried out the bombing, which officials have described as the largest incident of its kind in southern California. Authorities believe the bomber died in the blast.

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Woman who found Irish sanctuary after years on US death row dies in house fire

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Sonia ‘Sunny’ Jacobs spent 17 years in prison for murder she said she did not commit, a story told in books, play and film

After enduring hellish years on America’s death row for a crime she said she did not commit, Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs found an idyll, and healing, in rural Ireland. But in a final, cruel twist, her sanctuary claimed her life.

Jacobs, 78, and her carer, Kevin Kelly, were found dead on Tuesday after a fire at her cottage near the village of Casla, in County Galway.

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Ms Rachel says she’ll risk career to advocate for children in Gaza

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The popular YouTuber has received pushback for speaking out on behalf of children affected by war and famine

Ms Rachel, the children’s entertainer and educator whose YouTube videos have been watched by millions of families around the world, said she is willing to risk her career to keep advocating for suffering children in Gaza.

In an interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station, Ms Rachel, whose full name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, said she had received pushback for speaking out to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza, where more than 54,000 people have been killed in Israel’s ongoing military assault.

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How will South Korea’s new president engage with Trump’s White House?

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Lee Jae-myung must tackle US leader’s trade war as he attempts to revive Asia’s fourth biggest economy

Two years ago, the then South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, serenaded Joe Biden in the White House with a rendition of American Pie. The foundations of Washington’s ties with Seoul, one of its most important allies in the Asia-Pacific, appeared as firm as Yoon’s more-than-passable crooning.

As he prepares to replace the now-disgraced Yoon, South Korea’s new leader, Lee Jae-myung, will have to strike a very different note with Biden’s successor in the White House.

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Edmund White, novelist and great chronicler of gay life, dies aged 85

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The American essayist, playwright and author of books including A Boy’s Own Story and The Married Man has died

Edmund White, the American writer, playwright and essayist who attracted acclaim for his semi-autobiographical novels such as A Boy’s Own Story – and literally wrote the book on gay sex, with the pioneering The Joy of Gay Sex – has died aged 85.

His death was confirmed to the Guardian by his agent, Bill Clegg, on Wednesday.

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World won’t forget Tiananmen Square, US and Taiwan say on 36th anniversary of massacre

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Date of 4 June remains one of China’s strictest taboos, with government using increasingly sophisticated tools to censor its discussion

The world will never forget the Tiananmen Square massacre, the US secretary of state and Taiwan president have said on the 36th anniversary of the crackdown, which China’s government still tries to erase from domestic memory.

There is no official death toll but activists believe hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the streets around Tiananmen Square, Beijing’s central plaza, on 4 June 1989.

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Potential ‘agroterrorism weapon’ fungus smuggled into US by Chinese scientists, FBI alleges

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Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu charged after allegedly smuggling a fungus to US that can cause serious illness and billions of dollars in crop losses

Two Chinese scientists have been charged with smuggling a toxic fungus into the United States that they planned to research at an American university, the justice department has said.

Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud, the US attorney’s office for the eastern district of Michigan said in a statement on Tuesday.

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Back to the Future stars seek help in hunt for missing Marty McFly guitar

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Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd make plea to help track down cherry red Gibson, 40 years after film’s release

Marty McFly grabbed a guitar in Back to the Future and rocked out with the band at a 1950s high school dance, helping him narrowly avoid blinking out of existence before time-traveling back to the 1980s.

The guitar, in real life, wasn’t as lucky.

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US judge rules prisons must provide gender-affirming care for trans people

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Ruling in Washington comes despite executive order signed by Donald Trump that targeted funding for such care

A US judge on Tuesday ruled the US Bureau of Prisons must keep providing transgender inmates gender-affirming care, despite an executive order Donald Trump signed on his first day back in office to halt funding for such care.

US district judge Royce Lamberth in Washington DC allowed a group of more than 2,000 transgender inmates in federal prisons to pursue a lawsuit challenging the order as a class action. He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to provide them with hormone therapy and accommodations such as clothing and hair-removal devices while the lawsuit plays out.

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation names US evangelical leader as new chair

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Johnnie Moore, also an adviser to Trump, named as US- and Israeli-backed initiative tries to recover from resignations

An evangelical leader and adviser to Donald Trump on interfaith issues has been appointed the new head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as the controversial US- and Israeli-backed initiative attempts to recover from top-level resignations during a tumultuous rollout last week.

Johnnie Moore, a member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and founder of the boutique advisory firm Kairos Company, was appointed the new head of the GHF after Jake Wood, a former marine, resigned, saying that he could not guarantee the GHF’s independence from Israeli interests.

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