Category Archives: US News

‘Welcome home, Ilhan!’: supporters greet Ilhan Omar as she arrives in home state – video

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The US representative Ilhan Omar is welcomed with cheers and support as she returns to Minnesota on Thursday after days of inflammatory attacks by Donald Trump. At the airport, supporters shouted their backing of the Somalian-born lawmaker. Meanwhile, Trump tried to distance himself from supporters’ chants of ‘send her back’ at a rally where he criticised Omar, as Republicans worry the incendiary mantra could set the tone for the 2020 campaign

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Awkward exchanges as Trump meets religious persecution survivors – video

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Donald Trump has had some awkward exchanges with survivors of religious persecution during a meeting with them in the Oval Office on Wednesday. When the Nobel laureate and Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad requested aid for the Yazidis, the president replied: ‘And you had the Nobel prize? That's incredible. They gave it to you for what reason?’ When asked by a Rohingya refugee about the plan to help his people, Trump replied: ‘Where is that exactly?’

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How Trump’s businesses are booming with lobbyists, donors and governments

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The president has refused to sever ties with his hotels, golf courses and condos – raising conflict of interest and corruption concerns

From Florida to New York to Scotland and many other places, Donald Trump’s business empire has attracted a growing clientele of lobbyists, foreign governments, big donors and other Trump allies looking to curry favor, and helping generate hundreds of millions of dollars for his golf course resorts, condos and hotels.

While much attention has focused on Trump’s Washington DC hotel as a honeypot for those seeking to influence the administration, Trump’s broader property empire across the US – and overseas – also concerns critics who say the president is using his office for financial benefit.

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Laquan McDonald: four fired for alleged cover up of white officer’s role in killing

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Chicago Police Board finds the officers exaggerated the threat posed by the 17-year-old to justify his shooting

The Chicago Police Board on Thursday fired four police officers for allegedly covering up a white officer’s 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.

The nine-member board found the officers exaggerated the threat posed by the 17-year-old McDonald to justify his shooting by Jason Van Dyke and voted unanimously for the dismissal of Sgt Stephen Franko and officers Janet Mondragon, Daphne Sebastian and Ricardo Viramontes.

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Iowa executive was not sacked for loving Tupac Shakur, says governor

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Kim Reynolds says a ‘number of factors’ were behind the dismissal of state human services chief Jerry Foxhoven

The governor of Iowa has denied firing a senior executive because he sent emails to staff praising Tupac Shakur and exhorting them to listen to the late rapper’s lyrics.

Kim Reynolds’s decision to sack Jerry Foxhoven after he sent the email to more than 4,000 staff in June set off an explosion of national and interntional interest in Iowa’s usually unremarkable state administration.

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Ocasio-Cortez on Trump rally: ‘The president put millions of Americans in danger’ – video

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat representative, has weighed in on Donald Trump's rally in North Carolina, at which the crowd chanted 'send her back' after he mentioned Ilhan Omar. Speaking at Capitol Hill, Ocasio-Cortez said: 'It is about creating a volatile environment in this country through violent rhetoric that puts anyone, like Ilhan, anyone who believes in the rights of all people, in danger'

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‘Despicable’: Democrats condemn Trump over rally’s Ilhan Omar chant

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Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren denounced the president after rally erupted into chants of ‘send her back’

Democrats have rushed to condemn Donald Trump after his supporters erupted into chants of “send her back” at the mention of Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, one of the targets of the president’s recent racist tweets.

Presidential candidates and senior members of Congress called the chant at a Trump rally in North Carolina on Wednesday night “despicable” and “vile”. Some expressed fears for Omar’s safety.

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Trump says US warship has destroyed Iranian drone in Strait of Hormuz

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  • US president calls on other countries to condemn Iran
  • Move comes amid heightened tensions between countries

The US has said that one of its warships brought down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

The incident was first revealed by Donald Trump, who said that USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, took defensive action after the drone came within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored multiple calls to stand down.

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Trump has made Ilhan Omar the face of his re-election strategy

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In Omar, the president has at long last found a face to his stigmatization of Muslims – and so, too, have his allies

The chants of “send her back” reverberated across the rally of thousands on Wednesday as Donald Trump stood at the podium and attacked Representative Ilhan Omar, a naturalized US citizen who arrived in the country as a teenager after her family fled Somalia.

It was not the first time Trump had sought to vilify Omar, who in November became one of the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress and has emerged as a key target of the president and Republicans.

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How Trump distorts facts to make Ilhan Omar seem like an enemy to the US

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The president railed against the congresswoman at his North Carolina rally, targeting her refugee status, religion and ethnicity

Donald Trump spent nearly five minutes railing against the Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar at his “Keep America Great” rally in North Carolina on Wednesday night.

The framing of his attacks on Omar often targeted her refugee status, religion and ethnicity, and reveal how much the president is willing to bend the truth to make it seem that Omar is an enemy of the United States.

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Puerto Rico: thousands flood streets in push to oust governor – in pictures

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Photographer Angel Valentin accompanied our reporter Oliver Laughland to capture the growing protests in Puerto Rico against Governor Ricky Rosselló. The street demonstrations have been sparked by leaked text messages showing the US territory’s top official using misogynistic and homophobic slurs with members of his circle. The scandal focused widespread discontent about alleged corruption under Rosselló’s administration

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Trump directly involved in talks that led to Stormy Daniels payment, FBI says

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Court filing says Trump and Hope Hicks spoke to Michael Cohen often as Daniels in 2016 threatened to go public with story of affair

Donald Trump and his press secretary were directly involved in discussions that led to an illegal hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign, according to the FBI.

Related: Senior Democrats voice fears over Ilhan Omar's safety – live

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Florida city constantly plays Baby Shark to deter homeless from civic building

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Official praises ‘effective temporary measure’ using looped children’s song to drive away people from banqueting venue

City officials in West Palm Beach, Florida, are using extremely catchy children’s music to try and drive away homeless people from one of its civic buildings.

The city’s mayor, Keith James, confirmed to Fox News that the songs Baby Shark and Raining Tacos were being played at the patio of the Waterfront Lake Pavilion, where homeless people have been living.

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Puerto Rico police clash with protesters against governor’s homophobic texts

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Teargas and rubber bullets used to disperse huge demonstration following leak of Ricardo Rosselló sexist slurs

Thousands of protesters in Puerto Rico have clashed with riot police, as volleys of teargas and rubber bullets were used to disperse a mostly peaceful protest that descended into chaos just yards from the governor’s residence in San Juan.

The island’s capital has seen days of sustained protest following a leak of hundreds of pages of text messages, many including homophobic and misogynistic slurs, between the Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló and 11 members of his inner circle. A number of people in Rosselló’s administration have resigned after the leak, but the governor has refused to tender his resignation despite continuing violence on the streets.

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Asos issues third profit warning in seven months as shares fall

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Online fashion retailer blames glitch in rollout of European and US automated warehouses

Shares in Asos tumbled on Thursday as the online fashion retailer issued its third profits warning in seven months, blaming problems with the rollout of its new automated warehouses.

The group said sales were hit by the overhaul of warehouses in Berlin and Atlanta, which left the firm struggling to keep up with demand. It now expects to make profits of £30m to £35m this year, far below City forecasts of £55m.

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Inside Trump’s DC hotel, where allies and lobbyists flock to peddle their interests

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Fossil fuel interests, pro-gun groups, foreign delegations and all manner of allies visit the Trump International Hotel to cozy up to the administration, say watchdogs

On 25 July, the conservative Heartland Institute is slated to host a one-day meeting at the Trump International Hotel, just a few blocks from the White House. It will feature leading climate science deniers who will discuss issues like “the benefits of ending the Democrats’ war on fossil fuels”, according to the institute.

Last month, as Donald Trump was kicking off his 2020 campaign and boasting again of “draining the swamp” of Washington’s powerful lobbyists and elites, a couple of dozen oil and gas executives with the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance were checking into the president’s hotel before a day of schmoozing with Republican House leaders and cabinet officials.

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Trump rally crowd chants ‘send her back’ after president attacks Ilhan Omar

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Chant follows Trump’s racist tweets targeting Omar and three other Democratic congresswomen of color

Goaded on by the president, a crowd at a Donald Trump rally on Wednesday night chanted “send her back! send her back!” in reference to Ilhan Omar, a US congresswoman who arrived almost 30 years ago as a child refugee in the United States.

Trump used the 2020 campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, to attack Omar and three other Democratic congresswomen – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan – calling them “hate-filled extremists”. The group, which calls itself “the Squad”, has been the focus of racist attacks by the president this week, kickstarted by tweets posted Sunday in which he said the lawmakers, all women of color, should “go back” to other countries.

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‘Bill Clinton talks loudly, fails to act’: envoys’ barbed missives to John Major

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Foreign leaders Boris Yeltsin and François Mitterrand also subjects of gossipy anecdotes, papers show

Confidential and sometimes unflattering appraisals of foreign leaders have been a staple of the diplomatic cable long before the leaking of the former US ambassador Kim Darroch’s emails.

Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton, François Mitterrand and the Saudi royal family were all subjects of candid pen portraits and gossipy anecdotes during John Major’s premiership.

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The Squad: progressive Democrats reveal how they got their name

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‘Anyone who is interested in building a more equitable and just world is a part of The Squad,’ Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said

Four progressive democrats known as “The Squad” have revealed the source of their fierce moniker – they gave it to themselves at a photo shoot.

“Someone said, ‘Oh you should do a hashtag or something #squadgoals’ and then it morphed into whole other thing,” Congress member Ayanna Pressley told CBS This Morning on Wednesday.

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