Category Archives: US News

The Room Where It Happened review: John Bolton fires broadside that could sink Trump

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The ex-national security adviser is no hero or martyr and certainly no prose stylist either. What counts is how damaging his memoir will be

John Bolton’s near-600-page tome is the most damning written account by a Trump administration alumnus, the one that stands to haunt the president come November. In the author’s judgment, “I don’t think he’s fit for office. I don’t think he has the competence to carry out the job.” Joe Biden couldn’t say it better himself.

Related: John Bolton: judge declines to block tell-all Trump book

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Kurt Cobain ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’ guitar sells for $6m

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Nirvana frontman’s 1959 Martin D-18E sold to Australian who will put it on tour, with proceeds going to help struggling artists

The guitar used by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain during the band’s famous MTV Unplugged in New York concert has sold for more than $6m (£4.8m) at auction.

The 1959 Martin D-18E featured in the grunge group’s performance in November 1993, five months before Cobain’s death aged 27.

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Global report: Trump says he ordered coronavirus testing to ‘slow down’

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Testing a ‘double-edged sword’, says Trump; Chile death toll nearly doubles; Australian state ‘absolutely at risk’ of second peak

Donald Trump told thousands of supporters on Saturday that he had asked US officials to slow down testing for Covid-19 because case numbers in the country were rising so rapidly.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the US president used racist language, referring to Covid-19 as “kung flu”, and described testing for the virus as a “double-edged sword” because it led to the identification of more cases.

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Donald Trump sows division and promises ‘greatness’ at Tulsa rally flop

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US president’s much hyped return turned to humiliation when he failed to fill arena in Republican stronghold of Oklahoma

Donald Trump declared “the silent majority is stronger than ever before” at his comeback rally on Saturday, but thousands of empty seats appeared to tell a different story.

The US president’s much hyped return to the campaign trail turned to humiliation when he failed to fill a 19,000-capacity arena in the Republican stronghold of Oklahoma, raising fresh doubts about his chances of winning re-election.

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Trump set for Tulsa rally amid coronavirus fears and as protests continue – live

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It has been seven weeks since Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis took a coronavirus “victory lap”, pressing ahead with a swift reopening program while berating the media for a “doom and gloom” approach he said bore little relation to reality.

“We haven’t seen an explosion of new cases,” DeSantis insisted during a 29 April news conference, a day on which the state’s Covid-19 tally increased by 347.

Robert Mueller and his investigators thought it possible Donald Trump lied to them about conversations with Roger Stone, according to previously redacted sections of the special counsel’s report which were were released on Friday night.

The release, part of litigation over portions of Mueller’s findings which remain secret, was largely overshadowed by US attorney general William Barr’s announcement of the resignation of the attorney for the southern district of New York, Geoffrey Berman, who then denied he was stepping down.

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‘Tipping point’: Greta Thunberg hails Black Lives Matter protests

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People are realising ‘we cannot keep looking away from these things’, says climate activist

Greta Thunberg has said the Black Lives Matter protests show society has reached a tipping point where injustice can no longer be ignored, but that she believes a “green recovery plan” from the coronavirus pandemic will not be enough to solve the climate crisis.

Reflecting on the protests that have swept the globe in recent weeks, the Swedish climate activist told the BBC: “It feels like we have passed some kind of social tipping point where people are starting to realise that we cannot keep looking away from these things. We cannot keep sweeping these things under the carpet, these injustices.

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US attorney behind inquiries into Trump allies refuses to resign despite Barr announcement

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William Barr said Geoffrey Berman had stepped down, a fact denied by the influential attorney involved in investigations of Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen

US attorney general William Barr announced the resignation on Friday of an influential attorney who oversaw key prosecutions of allies of Donald Trump and an investigation into Rudy Giuliani – but it appeared the attorney in question had other ideas.

Related: White House defends Bolton hiring as Trump administration tries to block book

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Protesters topple statue of Confederate general in Washington DC – video

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Protesters in Washington DC climbed up a bronze statue of Brig Gen Albert Pike and brought it down with ropes before setting it alight on Friday.  A US holiday known as Juneteenth that commemorates the end of slavery takes place every year on 19 June. Demonstrators took about an hour to fell the three-metre statue, as Juneteenth celebrations and anti-racist protests took place across the US. The police surrounded the area but did not appear to intervene

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Florida’s Covid-19 surge shows the state’s reopening plan is not working

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As counties end the second week of Governor Ron DeSantis’ ‘safe, smart, step-by-step’ policy, the state marks a record high in daily cases

It has been seven weeks since Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis took a coronavirus “victory lap”, pressing ahead with a swift reopening program while berating the media for a “doom and gloom” approach he said bore little relation to reality.

“We haven’t seen an explosion of new cases,” DeSantis insisted during a 29 April news conference, a day on which the state’s Covid-19 tally increased by 347.

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Tulsa braces for Trump’s ‘wild evening’ amid unrest and coronavirus fears

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Donald Trump threatens protesters and ‘lowlifes’ as mass rally draws outrage from black communities with counter rallies expected

The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma is braced for Donald Trump’s first campaign rally since the coronavirus pandemic struck the United States, claiming more than 118,000 lives so far, plunging the economy into recession, and leading to widespread criticism of the president’s botched response to a crisis that has seen his approval ratings tank in recent polls.

The indoor rally, at Tulsa’s 19,000-person capacity BOK Center, comes as the city and the state of Oklahoma experience a surge in Covid-19 cases and local public health officials urge the campaign to reschedule the event over fears that the close contact between attendees – who will not be forced to wear face masks – could lead to more deaths.

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Juneteenth: rallies and celebrations across America commemorate end of slavery – live

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In Oakland, thousands rallied with members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), whose workers arranged a strike at 29 ports up and down the West Coast.

I was there, earlier today. The union workers were joined by a motorcycle brigade, a car caravan, a fleet of cyclists, and thousands on foot. Activist and scholar Angela Davis and filmmaker Boots Riley addressed the crowd.

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In Wisconsin, governor Tony Evers called on the state legislature to ban police chokeholds, among reforms that he unveiled today.

The Democratic governor did not ask for a special legislative session to take up the policy as soon as possible, as the Brack Legislative Caucus had requested.

Our country promises the opportunity of justice and equity and in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the calls for justice across our state and nation, and as we celebrate Juneteenth today, we are called to deliver on that promise.

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‘No justice, no peace’: protesters mark Juneteenth across US – video

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Thousands of people have taken to the streets across the US to mark Juneteenth, the holiday marking the end of slavery and those who fought for it. Combining the words “June” and “19th”, the holiday commemorates the anniversary of the day in 1865 when the Union army major general Gordon Granger read out Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to remaining enslaved African Americans on a plantation in Galveston, Texas.

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BT and Vodafone told to stock up on Huawei kit over US sanctions

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Security officials fear UK telcos could run out of vital parts if US pressure disrupts supplies

British security officials have told telecoms operators to ensure they have adequate stockpiles of Huawei equipment owing to fears that US sanctions will disrupt the Chinese firm’s ability to maintain critical supplies, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Senior officials at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), who are studying the impact of new US measures intended to restrict Huawei’s ability to source advanced microchips, wrote to BT and Vodafone last week, said three people familiar with the matter.

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John Bolton memoir reveals UK’s fragile relations with Trump

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Former US national security adviser reveals series of tensions and pressure points

Donald Trump dashed British hopes that he would take a tougher line on Hong Kong, including by refusing to condemn the Tiananmen Square massacre, according to John Bolton’s book about his time as the US president’s national security adviser.

In one of many episodes in the book that reveal the fragile nature of the UK’s relations with the Trump administration, Bolton writes that the president said Tiananmen Square was decades ago and he did not want to jeopardise a potential trade deal with Beijing.

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Police officers shoot and kill Los Angeles security guard: ‘He ran because he was scared’

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Sheriff’s deputies chased and shot dead Andres Guardado, 18, a security guard at an auto repairs shop

After sheriff’s deputies chased and shot dead a security guard at an auto repairs shop in Los Angeles on Thursday evening, family members have identified the dead man to local media as Andres Guardado, 18.

The killing came amid national protest and unrest over the deaths of African Americans, and other people of color, at the hands of law enforcement.

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On eve of Trump visit, Tulsa still haunted by memory of white supremacist massacre

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The president prepares to hold a rally in a city where, in 1921, up to 300 people were murdered in one of the most horrific acts of racist violence in US history

Brenda Alford stood at the spot where her grandfather’s business was burned to the ground.

Related: Why is Trump's comeback rally in Tulsa: the site of a massacre?

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‘White faux feminism’: Women Deliver investigate internal racism allegations

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Move follows previous and current staff complaining of toxic working environment at global advocacy group

The global advocacy group for gender equality Women Deliver has launched an investigation into allegations of racism and discrimination within the organisation.

Its CEO, Katja Iversen, a G7 advisor on gender equality, has issued an apology and taken a leave of absence until the conclusion of the investigation.

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