Category Archives: US News

Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting

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Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor, sought to defend Trump’s record during CNN interview: ‘He does think it’s a threat’

The Trump administration faced fresh scrutiny on Sunday over the president’s fraught record on white nationalism in the wake of a suspected hate crime at a synagogue in California on Saturday, which left one woman dead and three injured.

Trump unequivocally condemned the shooting, telling a rally on Saturday evening in Wisconsin: “Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded, and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community. We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated.”

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Barr threatens to skip House hearing on Mueller report over format dispute

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Attorney general has expressed objections to House judiciary committee’s questioning format, according to Democratic aide

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has informed the powerful House of Representatives judiciary committee that attorney general William Barr may not attend a Thursday hearing to review special counsel Robert Mueller’s report of the Trump-Russia investigation.

Barr has expressed objections over the panel’s questioning format, according to a senior Democratic committee aide.

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San Diego synagogue shooting: vigil held for victims – video report

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Dozens of residents gathered on Saturday evening for a vigil of song and prayer at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian church in San Diego, after a 19-year-old gunman opened fire on worshippers inside a nearby synagogue, killing a woman and wounding a rabbi and two other people. The suspect claimed to have been motivated by the deadly attack on two mosques in New Zealand last month

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Four killed in Seattle after crane collapses from new Google building

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Two crane operators and two people in cars die after machine falls from top of building under construction

Four people were killed and three injured when a construction crane fell from a building on Google’s new Seattle campus on to one of the city’s busiest streets during a storm.

The four people – one female and three male – had died by the time firefighters had arrived on Saturday afternoon, the fire chief, Harold Scoggins, said. Two of the dead were ironworkers who had been inside the crane, while the other two were people who were inside cars, the fire department spokesman Lance Garland said.

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Trump one chapter of bad fiction in America’s true history, White House correspondents’ dinner told

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‘When you chip away at the press, you chip away at our democracy’, Pultitzer-winning historian Ron Chernow tells Trump-free event

As Donald Trump flailed his arms and railed against the media at a raucous campaign rally on Saturday night, a Pulitzer prize-winning historian delivered an elegantly scathing rebuke at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) annual dinner.

America the split screen nation – so evident in polarised reactions to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian election interference – was on vivid display again in two speeches.

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US builds migrant tent city in Texas as Trump likens treatment to ‘Disneyland’

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US border agency, which previously forced migrants to sleep under a bridge, says an influx of arrivals demands more shelter space

The US government has begun erecting tents close to the border with Mexico to house detained migrants – even as Donald Trump likened the treatment of undocumented families entering the US to “Disneyland” on Sunday.

Life at the foothills of the Franklin mountains in El Paso, Texas, has been rudely disrupted in the last few days by construction crews coming and going near the adjacent border patrol station.

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In fighting all oversight, Trump has made his most dictatorial move | Robert Reich

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The president is treating Congress with contempt. This cannot stand – and Congress must fight back

“We’re fighting all the subpoenas,” says the person who is supposed to be chief executive of the United States government.

Related: Fox News analyst says Mueller report proves Trump did obstruct justice

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John Earnest: San Diego shooting suspect posted ‘open letter’ online

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Antisemitic screed says 19-year-old was motivated by New Zealand mosque massacres and Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

• Full report: one dead and three injured in synagogue shooting

The 19-year-old California man detained by police after a hate-motivated shooting at a synagogue near San Diego claimed to have been motivated by the deadly attack on two mosques in New Zealand last month.

Police in the US said the gunman, named as John T Earnest, opened fire inside the synagogue in Poway, about 30 kilometres north of San Diego, killing one person and injuring three others including a rabbi.

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‘It’s an outrage’: Putin attacks 18-month prison term for Maria Butina

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  • Russian president says sentence an attempt by US to ‘save face’
  • Butina guilty of conspiring to infiltrate US conservative circles

Vladimir Putin on Saturday described as “an outrage” the sentencing of Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina to 18 months in prison in the US, calling her treatment a travesty of justice.

Related: Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight

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Beto O’Rourke is coming to California. Can the trip redeem his campaign?

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Over 25,000 Californians donated to his Senate run. Now as O’Rourke visits the state, he’s focused on voters rather than their wallets

For a moment, Beto O’Rourke, fresh faced and with a natural gift for cadence, was America’s great liberal hope – the consensus pick to be the next big thing. The two-time congressman from El Paso raised over $80m in 2018, more than any previous candidate for the US Senate, in his bid to unseat Ted Cruz. And he almost won, too, with whispers of a presidential run coming months before the vote.

But when he arrives in Los Angeles on Saturday, the first stop in a four-day swing through California, O’Rourke will be coming as not just a charismatic underdog, but as someone desperate to show he is still a rising star and not a has-been. Since launching his presidential campaign in March, O’Rourke has discovered that almost becoming a senator, and being slightly too liberal for Texas, have not proved to be standout attributes in a crowded field of contenders for the Democratic nomination.

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Trump says he ‘will never ratify the UN arms treaty’ as he pulls US out – video

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Donald Trump has announced that the US will withdraw its support for a United Nations treaty regulating the global arms trade. Addressing the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis, the president said he would revoke the US’s status as a signatory of the arms trade treaty regulating conventional weapons including small arms, battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships. The NRA has long claimed the treaty poses a threat to the second amendment. NRA members stood, applauded and chanted ‘USA! USA!’ as Trump signed a letter to Congress halting the ratification process, then tossed his pen into the crowd.


Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight

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US issues warrant for accused ringleader of North Korean embassy raid in Spain

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Adrian Hong Chang sought by Spain in connection with alleged raid, but lawyer says this is based on ‘unreliable’ North Korean account

US authorities are focused on southern California in their manhunt for a one-time human rights activist accused of leading a violent takeover of North Korea’s embassy in Spain, according to a federal arrest warrant unsealed on Friday.

Adrian Hong Chang is wanted by Spain in connection with the alleged embassy raid in February, but his lawyer denounced the US Justice Department for seeking his arrest and extradition based on “the highly unreliable accounts of North Korean government witnesses”.

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‘Bad guys aren’t giving up their guns and you’re not going to either’, says Trump – video

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Donald Trump announced at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting that the United States will drop out of an international arms treaty signed in 2013 by then president Barack Obama but opposed by the NRA and other conservative groups. Trump told members of the gun lobby that he intends to revoke the status of the US as a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty, which was never ratified by the US Senate. In a pre-emptive attack against his 2020 challengers, Trump claimed that Democrats 'want to take away your guns' and told the thousands in the crowd: 'You better get out there and vote'

Trump tells NRA: 'I'm a champion for the second amendment' – live

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Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight

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  • Democrats condemn Trump’s ‘myopic’ decision to withdraw
  • President at NRA summit vows to defend second amendment

Donald Trump has announced that the US will withdraw its support for a United Nations treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade.

Addressing the National Rifle Association (NRA) in Indianapolis, the president said he would revoke America’s status as a signatory of the arms trade treaty regulating conventional weapons including small arms, battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships.

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Trump tells NRA second amendment rights ‘under assault’ – live

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Trump speaks at gun group’s conference in Indianapolis on same day Maria Butina given 18 months for conspiring to infiltrate NRA

•Joe Biden stopped short of apologizing to Anita Hill, in his first interview since announcing his presidential campaign. Told he had an opportunity to “apologize, say you’re sorry” for the way he handled Hill’s testimony during Clarence Thomas’ supreme court confirmation hearing, Biden equivocated. “I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated. I wish we could have figured out a better way [to handle her testimony],” Biden said.

•Donald Trump claimed the second amendment was “under assault” in a typically free form speech to the National Rifle Association. The president also suggested he was “draining the [DC} swamp”, despite having appointed more than 350 lobbyists to government positions. Trump addressed the NRA at a time when the organization is seriously ailing. Tax filings for the right-wing gun-lobbying organization show it lost nearly $64m in 2016 and 2017.

It seems someone lobbed a phone at/in the general direction of Donald Trump as he came out to address the NRA. The president was unharmed.

whoever threw that phone has terrible aim if he/she was aiming for Trump https://t.co/CsO0IjJJ2B

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Fox News analyst says Mueller report proves Trump did obstruct justice

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Andrew Napolitano argued in an op-ed the president obstructed justice with ‘unlawful’ behavior related to the Russia inquiry

Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano has argued that Donald Trump did obstruct justice, with “unlawful, defenseless and condemnable” behavior related to the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In the opinion column Did President Trump obstruct justice?, the host of the Liberty File on Fox Nation argued that the Mueller report illustrates clear and intentional obstruction of justice, constituting legal grounds for impeachment.

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Why can’t Twitter stop Trump’s hateful tweets about Ilhan Omar?

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Congresswoman received death threats following video Trump posted – but he didn’t technically violate the rules

The rules just aren’t the same for Donald Trump as they are for the rest of us. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apparently admitted as much this week on a phone call with Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar.

As reported by the Washington Post, Dorsey, often criticized for his inaction when it comes removing hateful and threatening content from the platform, was asked by Omar why he hadn’t taken down a video posted by Trump earlier in the month. The video, which spliced together misleading and out of context comments from Omar about the issue of Islamophobia with footage of the 9/11 attacks, was clearly targeted harassment to anyone who saw it.

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Mercedes production delays push Daimler’s quarterly profits down by 16%

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Sales of Mercedes-Benz cars fell 7%, partly because of manufacturing bottlenecks

Daimler’s quarterly operating profit has fallen by 16% as a €718m (£620m) one-off gain failed to offset the impact of falling sales in China and production delays at three Mercedes-Benz factories.

Sales of Mercedes-Benz cars fell 7% in the first quarter 0f 2019, partly because of manufacturing bottlenecks for the A-Class compact car in Aguascalientes, Mexico, the Mercedes-Benz van in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Mercedes-Benz GLE SUV in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

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