Donald Trump has accused Iran of orchestrating an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad after dozens of Iraqi Shia militia supporters broke into its compound. Video from the scene shows protesters climbing over the wall of the embassy and setting fires
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Jeffrey Epstein: woman sues estate alleging encounter when she was 14
Lawsuit filed in Florida says teen was approached in 2003 when she was ‘a vulnerable child without adequate parental support’
A woman who says she was 14 when she had a sexual encounter with the financier Jeffrey Epstein at his mansion sued his estate in Florida court on Monday for coercion, inflicting emotional distress and battery.
The lawsuit filed in Palm Beach county asks for an undisclosed amount of money. The lawsuit doesn’t give the woman’s name and only refers to her as “JJ Doe”.
Continue reading...Papers reveal Anglo-French distrust before Srebrenica massacre
Archives show British PM was warned France may have made secret deal with Bosnian Serbs
Days before the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, John Major was warned France had possibly brokered a secret deal with the Bosnian Serbs to halt airstrikes in return for the release of western military hostages.
This claim, detailed in a secret Foreign Office note to the prime minister, is among documents available to read at the National Archives in Kew fromTuesday that expose the depth of Anglo-French distrust during the Balkans conflict.
Continue reading...Texas shooting details supercharge NRA’s ‘good guy with a gun’ defense
Security duo shot and killed gunman in Texas, prompting gun-rights groups to urge states to pass laws expanding firearms access
Every time the US suffers another mass shooting, gun rights activists make an argument that goes something like this: if a good guy with a gun had been there, this terrible tragedy could have been prevented.
Related: Texas shooting: two dead and one injured at Fort Worth church
Continue reading...New York’s Jewish community on edge after string of Hanukah attacks
Stabbings in Monsey, Rockland county, are latest antisemitic incident in region
Jewish groups and political leaders have issued calls for increased protection in New York after a string of attacks during Hanukah left members of the region’s Jewish community on edge.
On Saturday night, an attacker stabbed five people during Hanukah festivities at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, Rockland county, about 30 miles north of New York City, in what Governor Andrew Cuomo called “an act of domestic terrorism”. The attack was the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents in the region.
Continue reading...2019: the year in US protests – in pictures
Tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job in Los Angeles, American women gathered for their third annual march in Washington, Iowans protested abortion bans, Texans declared Donald Trump ‘not welcome’ in El Paso and students in New York City rallied around Greta Thunberg in calling for action on climate change
Continue reading...US military carries out ‘defensive strikes’ in Iraq and Syria
Offensive on Kata’ib Hezbollah sites comes after rocket attack on Iraqi military base blamed on militia group
The US military has carried out what the Pentagon described as “defensive strikes” in Iraq and Syria against the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia group, two days after a US civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.
The Pentagon said it targeted three locations of the Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militia group in Iraq and two in Syria. The sites included weapons storage facilities and command and control locations Kata’ib Hezbollah had used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces.
Continue reading...‘A terrible tragedy’: five stabbed at rabbi’s home during Hanukah celebration – video report
An attacker stabbed five people at a rabbi's home in New York state late on Saturday. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council said the attacker fled after stabbing the victims with a large knife or machete at a house in Monsey, Rockland county. A suspect was later arrested
Continue reading...US isolationism leaves Middle East on edge as new decade dawns
With Trump deciding against protecting allies, old rivalries are converging across the region
Throughout the Middle East’s modern history, a constant remained – the US held a prominent stake and would throw its weight around to protect its interests and allies. The maxim held true as ideologies rose and fell, Gulf monarchies, Israel, and Arab nationalist police states took root – and war and insurrection periodically raged.
But it ended during Donald Trump’s third year, a time when an isolationist, unworldly president began to see regional interests through a much narrower lens. The effect has been profound and 2020 will continue the process of recalibration by traditional friends of the US without a country whose clout they used to defer to and whose agenda they could more or less understand.
Continue reading...Hanukah stabbings: five wounded in ‘act of domestic terrorism’ in New York state
Attack takes place during festivities at rabbi’s home in Monsey, say authorities, with suspect later arrested in Harlem
An attacker has stabbed five people during Hanukah festivities at a rabbi’s home in New York state in what Governor Andrew Cuomo called “an act of domestic terrorism”.
Related: New York police boost patrols after suspected antisemitic attacks
Continue reading...2019 saw most mass killings on record, US database reveals
Thirty-three of 41 incidents involved firearms, research shows, even as overall number of homicides fell
This year saw the highest number of mass killings on record, database records show, with 41 incidents claiming 211 lives in 2019 even as the overall US homicide rated dropped.
According to the database complied by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, 33 of the incidents, defined as when four or more people are killed excluding the perpetrator, involved firearms.
Continue reading...Weinstein accusers’ lawyers could get 10 times more than clients, sources say
Lead attorney for women could receive 25% of payout in settlement which would end most civil lawsuits
Lawyers representing alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein could get as much as 10 times more than some of the accusers themselves if a controversial settlement deal goes ahead, legal sources have told the Guardian.
Last week it was reported that more than 30 women accusing the disgraced Hollywood mogul of sexual misconduct had reached a tentative settlement deal. If approved in court, the settlement will bring to an end most of the civil lawsuits pending against him.
Continue reading...Trump fights to keep evangelicals on his side ahead of 2020
Recent, high-profile defections have left the president and his campaign spooked about losing a key component of his base
The US president going to church on Christmas Eve should not have attracted much attention. But it was the specific church Donald Trump chose to attend on Tuesday that raised eyebrows.
Instead of attending his usual service at the liberal church in Palm Beach, Florida, where he married his third wife, Trump instead went to a conservative Baptist-affiliated church in West Palm Beach.
Continue reading...New York police boost patrols after suspected antisemitic attacks
Police have received at least eight reports since 13 December of attacks possibly propelled by anti-Jewish sentiment
New York City is increasing its police presence in some Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations after possibly antisemitic attacks during the Hanukkah holiday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said after the latest episode happened Friday.
Besides making officers more visible in Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg, police will boost visits to houses of worship and some other places, the mayor tweeted.
Continue reading...Mexican police chief arrested in connection to Mormon family killings
Nine women and children of US-Mexican origin were shot dead by suspected drug cartel hitmen last month
Mexican authorities have arrested a municipal police chief for his suspected links to the killing of three women and six children of US-Mexican origin in northern Mexico last month, local media and an official said on Friday.
Suspected drug cartel hitmen shot dead the nine women and children from families of Mormon origin in Sonora state on 4 November, sparking outrage in Mexico and the United States.
Continue reading...Trump condemned for tweets pointing to name of Ukraine whistleblower
President posted link to article that identifies official – then sent a further tweet containing the name
Donald Trump has retweeted material that publicly names the purported whistleblower whose complaint about the US president’s dealings with Ukraine led to his impeachment.
The president on Friday night sent a retweet from one of his supporters containing the alleged name of the individual. Trump drew the attention of his 68 million Twitter followers to the post which, along with publicising the name, inaccurately claimed that the whistleblower “committed perjury by making false statements” and is being protected by Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee. There is no evidence to support these assertions.
Earlier, on Thursday, Trump had also retweeted a post by his re-election campaign’s “war room” that linked to an article by the conservative Washington Examiner news website. The article, published on 3 December, has the name of the alleged whistleblower in its headline.
Navy Seal pardoned of war crimes by Trump described by colleagues as ‘freaking evil’
Eddie Gallagher ‘OK with killing anything that moved’, Iraq veterans told investigators in testimony obtained by New York Times
A Navy Seal platoon leader controversially cleared of war crimes by Donald Trump was a “toxic” character who was “OK with killing anything that moved”, according to fellow Iraq veterans who reported his conduct to military investigators.
Related: 2019: the year US foreign policy fell apart
Continue reading...Home Alone 2: Trump scene cut in Canada, angering supporters
CBC removed president’s cameo in 2014 to save time, but Trump’s son says move is ‘pathetic’
Canada’s national broadcaster has riled Donald Trump’s conservative base by airing Christmas movie favourite Home Alone 2 without a scene involving the president.
The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) says it removed Trump’s brief cameo – and eight minutes of the film in total – in 2014 to make room for commercials.
Continue reading...Eight sexual assault cases added to Harvey Weinstein investigation
The disgraced Hollywood mogul has not been charged in the cases, which are being reviewed by Los Angeles prosecutors
Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing eight cases accusing disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, an official said Thursday.
The Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments each brought four investigations to prosecutors, according to Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Continue reading...Hiker killed by huge falling redwood tree in California national park
Authorities say a 28-year-old became pinned in a ‘very rare’ incident in Muir Woods, famed for its towering trees, on Christmas Eve
A huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods national monument park in California on Christmas Eve, authorities said on Thursday.
Subhradeep Dutta, 28, of Edina, Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other people in the park north of San Francisco famous for its towering trees, according to the Marin county coroner’s office and a spokesman for the park.
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