Category Archives: US News

School reopens inquiry into teens giving Nazi salute as new clips emerge, reports say

Posted on by

Videos appear to show students marching with German flag and wrapping themselves in Confederate flag

School officials in southern California are reportedly reopening an investigation into a group of high school students seen giving Nazi salutes on video, after more racist video and images surfaced on Wednesday.

The initial video obtained by the Daily Beast shows members of the boys’ water polo team at Pacifica high school in Orange County in an empty room that administrative officials say was later used for an athletic banquet. The video, which according to the Daily Beast was taken before an awards ceremony late last year, showed about 10 boys in a stiff-arm salute while singing a Nazi marching song.

Continue reading...

‘I am the Chosen One’: with boasts and insults, Trump sets new benchmark for incoherence

Posted on by

President outdoes himself in new press conference as he attacks the Danish prime minister, Jewish Democrats and the press

Donald Trump started off precisely on-message.

Strolling to the end of a White House driveway on Wednesday ahead of his departure for a veterans event in Kentucky, the president began speaking while still walking toward a crowd of waiting reporters. “So the economy is doing very, very well,” he said.

Continue reading...

Trump doubles down on claim that Jewish Democrats are ‘disloyal’ – video

Posted on by

The US president has renewed his attack on four Democratic congresswomen who have been critical of Israel, and reiterated a longstanding antisemitic trope implying that American Jews had divided loyalty to America and to Israel. Over almost 24 hours he has repeatedly described Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats as showing ‘either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty’

Continue reading...

Trump says he is seriously looking at ending birthright citizenship – video

Posted on by

The US president has said his administration is looking at ending the right of citizenship for US-born children of non-citizens and people who entered the country illegally. ‘We’re looking at that very seriously, birthright citizenship, where you have a baby on our land, you walk over the border, have a baby – congratulations, the baby is now a US citizen ... It’s frankly ridiculous,’ Donald Trump told reporters

Continue reading...

No Hollywood ending: Los Angeles property listed for $1bn sells at $100,000

Posted on by

The 157-acre lot in the Hollywood Hills has been the subject of complex litigation over who actually owns the property

A billion dollars for an empty tract of land always sounded like a Hollywood fairytale. This week reality came crashing down on the investors, real estate agents and feuding litigants who – all too briefly – became embroiled in the greatest property story on earth.

The land in question is a 157-acre parcel perched high in the Hollywood Hills that overlooks the mansion-studded hills of Bel-Air and Los Angeles. Down the years, it has interested an eclectic mix of would-be buyers including the sister of the Shah of Iran, Merv Griffin, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.

Continue reading...

Eric Garner’s family receives sliver of justice after firing of NYPD officer

Posted on by

Family of New York man insists ‘we’re not finished’ after dismissal of Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner in a banned chokehold

One thousand, eight hundred and sixty days after Eric Garner was killed on the streets of Staten Island, New York, his family finally received a sliver of justice.

On Monday, the New York police department (NYPD) commissioner, James O’Neill, announced the NYPD would fire Daniel Pantaleo, who, on that hot summer’s day in July 2014, placed the unarmed 43-year-old in a banned chokehold that contributed to Garner’s death.

Continue reading...

Trump rule would allow for indefinite detention of immigrant families – live

Posted on by

New rule would effectively replace the Flores agreement, which sets 20-day limit for families held in custody

Eighteen (!) of the 23 (!!) prominent Democratic candidates for president are speaking at the Iowa Federation Labor Convention today.

The presidential hopefuls will address union members in Altoona, beginning at 10am ET and running, presumably, for a long time.

Some reaction to the Trump administration rule on indefinitely detaining immigrant families:

The government should NOT be jailing kids, and certainly shouldn’t be seeking to put more kids in jail for longer.

This is yet another cruel attack on children, who this administration has targeted again and again with its anti-immigrant policies.

Congress must not fund this. https://t.co/bp3uDIJder

Even a short period of detention— let alone prolonged detention—has devastating, often lifelong effects on children. https://t.co/3823D0XnhO

It's also incredibly costly. DHS declined to run the numbers in the proposed rule, so we did so for them. Each year this will cost at least $200 MILLION, and as much as over $1 BILLION.

All to hurt kids and families.https://t.co/MjsidJxQx0

Continue reading...

Danish PM reacts to cancelled Trump visit: ‘preparations were in full swing’ – video

Posted on by

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, told journalists she was surprised and disappointed to learn that Donald Trump had cancelled his visit to Denmark after she rejected suggestions of selling Greenland to the US. The US president tweeted his decision after Frederiksen dismissed the notion as absurd

Continue reading...

‘Shameful’: US Jews respond to Trump’s apparent use of antisemitic trope

Posted on by

Jonathan Greenblatt said Trump’s charges of ‘disloyalty’ have ‘long been used to attack Jews’ while J Street called remarks ‘dangerous’

Prominent American Jews have reacted with dismay and disdain to Donald Trump’s renewed adoption of a longstanding antisemitic trope after he described Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats as showing “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty”.

Accusing Jewish Americans of having dual loyalties to the US and Israel, as the president referred to in remarks from the Oval Office on Tuesday, prompted charges that he had embraced a slur long used against Jews. Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, pointed out on Twitter that charges of disloyalty “have long been used to attack Jews … It’s long overdue to stop using Jews as a political football”.

Continue reading...

US military drone shot down over Yemen

Posted on by

Two US officials say drone was brought down on Tuesday south-east of the capital Sana’a

A US military MQ-9 drone has been shot down in Yemen’s Dhamar governate, south-east of the Houthi-controlled capital Sana’a, two US officials have said.

A Houthi military spokesman had earlier said that air defences had brought down a US drone.

Continue reading...

Danish PM ‘surprised and disappointed’ over cancelled Trump visit

Posted on by

US president attacks comments as ‘nasty’ after calling off trip because Greenland not for sale

The Danish prime minister has said she is surprised and disappointed that Donald Trump has called off his planned visit to the country over Copenhagen’s refusal to sell Greenland to the US.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Mette Frederiksen reaffirmed that Greenland was not for sale. “A discussion about a potential sale of Greenland has been put forward. It has been rejected by Greenland premier Kim Kielsen, and I fully stand behind that rejection,” she said.

Continue reading...

Greenland highlights Trump’s willingness to offend close US allies

Posted on by

By cancelling his state visit to Denmark, the US president has again showed his thin skin

Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to cancel his state visit to Denmark after it rejected his unsolicited offer to buy Greenland at a knockdown price took most people by surprise, not least his own ambassador.

“Denmark is ready … Partner, ally, friend”, tweeted Carla Sands, the neophyte US envoy to Copenhagen who was previously an actor and chiropractor. Hours later, it was off.

Continue reading...

Trump postpones meeting with Danish PM over Greenland purchase

Posted on by

President blames rescheduling on Mette Frederiksen’s comments ‘that she would have no interest in discussing purchase’

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre confirmed, via a tweet, that he spoke with President Trump today about gun laws, and called him a “strong” president.

The Atlantic reported earlier this afternoon that Trump had called LaPierre to reassure him that any background check legislation was now off the table.

I spoke to the president today. We discussed the best ways to prevent these types of tragedies. @realDonaldTrump is a strong #2A President and supports our Right to Keep and Bear Arms! – Wayne LaPierre

Donald Trump said on Tuesday evening that he is postponing a scheduled meeting with the Danish prime minister over her comments on his proposal for the US to buy the island.

Denmark owns Greenland, and the country has said the island is not for sale. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said on Sunday: “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously.”

....The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!

Continue reading...

Airline under fire for allegedly refusing to accommodate passenger with autism

Posted on by

Man says crew of Delta connecting partner SkyWest did not allow his brother, who has nonverbal autism, to sit with a family member

Delta and their connection partner airline, SkyWest, are the latest airlines to come under fire for discrimination, over an incident involving a passenger with autism.

Ayo Isola said he was traveling from Detroit back home to Houston with his mother, sister and brother, Tayo, who has nonverbal autism and often experiences sensory overload. Upon boarding their flight, Isola realized his family was not seated together.

Continue reading...

Strong wind blows dozens of air mattresses through Denver park – video

Posted on by

Dozens of inflatable mattresses cartwheeled across a park in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday as strong winds whipped through the neighbourhood. Robb Manes, who filmed the bizarre spectacle, described it as the ‘great mattress migration of 2019’. According to local reports, the mattresses had been set out for an open-air film screening called the Bed Cinema later that day

Continue reading...

Ivanka Trump’s embrace of nature sparks cries of hypocrisy

Posted on by

The president’s daughter shared photos of a vacation in Wyoming, causing blowback over her father’s poor environmental record

Ivanka Trump shared a series of pictures on social media over the weekend of herself, husband Jared Kushner and their children availing themselves of the natural wonders of Wyoming.

“Love. Wonder. Wander. Repeat,” the president’s daughter and adviser captioned in one photo, in front of a painterly backdrop.

Continue reading...

Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib encourage colleagues to visit Israel – video

Posted on by

US representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib call on their colleagues to visit Israel in an emotional press conference on Monday, following the country’s decision last week to deny them entry after pressure from Donald Trump. Omar said it was important that Trump and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, should not 'succeed in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us'

Continue reading...

Nevada casino workers fight an uphill battle to get – and keep – their unions

Posted on by

Despite winning six union elections, the opposition continues through legal appeals and stalled contracts

Michael Wagner has worked as a bartender at the Green Valley Ranch Casino Resort in Henderson, Nevada since it first opened in December 2001. Wagner and other workers at the casino voted to form a union in November 2017, with 78% of the vote, after years of facing union busting, intimidation, and retaliation against those participating in union organizing.

It has been a long struggle. But it is still not over. The billionaire Trump allies who own the casino – and others like it – have embarked on a campaign of stalling recognition, delaying contract negotiations and intimidation and poor working conditions, casino workers say.

Continue reading...

Death, blackouts, melting asphalt: ways the climate crisis will change how we live

Posted on by

From power cuts to infrastructure failure, the impact of climate change on US cities will be huge – but many are already innovating to adapt

Between record heat and rain, this summer’s weather patterns have indicated, once again, that the climate is changing.

US cities, where more than 80% of the nation’s population lives, are disproportionately hit by these changes, not only because of their huge populations but because of their existing – often inadequate – infrastructure.

Continue reading...

Trump tweets image of enormous Trump Tower on Greenland

Posted on by

US president pledges ‘not to do this’ but residents of the icy island have hardly warmed to his interest

Donald Trump may still want to purchase Greenland – but the US president has no plans to embellish the island’s coast with a Trump Tower.

On Monday night, Trump tweeted an edited photo of a coastal town dotted with colorful homes – all dwarfed by a golden skyscraper bearing the US president’s name.

Continue reading...