Category Archives: US News

Man who sprayed Ilhan Omar with vinegar sentenced to 14 months

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Anthony Kazmierczak agreed plea deal over January town-hall attack that came amid Minneapolis ICE crackdown

The man who sprayed vinegar at the Democratic US House member Ilhan Omar during a Minneapolis town hall was sentenced Thursday to 14 months in prison after reaching a deal with prosecutors.

The sentencing of 56-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak came nearly eight months after the 27 January assault. At the time, Minneapolis was facing an immigration crackdown that led to angry protests, arrests and the killing of two US citizens by federal officers.

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RFK Jr promises anti-vaxxers a ‘friend at the White House’ amid deadly measles outbreak

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The US health secretary added that he would’ve made sweeping changes ‘on day one’ but he had to follow the law

As the death toll from the worst measles outbreak in decades rises, Robert F Kennedy Jr headlined the Washington DC conference of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, which he led for nearly a decade.

“Let me be clear. You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House,” Kennedy, now serving as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told anti-vaccine activists at the conference in a nearly hour-and-a-half-long speech. He urged patience, saying that he would’ve made sweeping changes “on day one” but that he had to follow the law in order to make permanent change.

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House Republican releases campaign ad critical of Trump’s immigration policies

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María Elvira Salazar says some enforcement has ‘gone too far’ as GOP seeks distance from Trump before midterms

A Republican congresswoman has released a campaign ad criticizing Donald Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement, in the latest sign that a key plank of the president’s 2024 re-election campaign has become a liability for his congressional allies ahead of November’s midterm elections.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Florida’s María Elvira Salazar says in a 30-second ad. “In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy.”

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FBI warned ICE agents could be targeted by fake ‘tradwife’ dating profiles, memo reveals

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Exclusive: Internal FBI memo, reviewed by the Guardian, said women wanted to dox and ‘embarrass’ agents, but provided few details

The FBI internally warned that a group of women were creating fake online dating accounts with “tradwife” aesthetics in an effort to lure US immigration agents and “dox” them.

The FBI in Chicago disseminated a brief memo to other law enforcement officials across the US on the potential threat to agents in February, warning that “as of late January 2026, a small group of women allegedly were creating fictitious online dating profiles with the purpose of attracting and then doxxing law enforcement participating in immigration enforcement”. The report, which was shared with the Guardian, provided few details about the alleged scheme and did not explain the source of the information.

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IS member sentenced to 20 years in prison for role in 2021 Kabul airport bombing

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Mohammad Sharifullah, 28, was convicted of aiding the terrorist group that took credit for the suicide bombing

An Islamic State group member was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 years in prison for aiding the terrorist organization that took credit for a suicide bombing that killed 13 US service members and about 160 Afghans at the Kabul airport five years ago during the US military’s chaotic withdrawal from the country.

A federal jury in Virginia had convicted Mohammad Sharifullah in April of providing material support to the IS affiliate known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). But jurors could not agree whether he bore some responsibility for the airport bombing on 26 August 2021.

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Trump administration again denies entry visas to Palestinian officials ahead of UN general assembly

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For the second year in a row, the administration has barred the Palestinian delegation from US travel for the forum

The US state department said on Wednesday that it had again denied entry visas to Palestinian officials ahead next week’s United Nations general assembly gathering in New York.

The state department said in a statement the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had “failed to live up to their commitments”, accusing the groups of “taking actions to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ)” and of “glorifying terrorism” among other allegations.

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Attorneys for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs drop music mogul, alleging unpaid legal bills

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The musician is serving a 50-month federal prison term for prostitution-related offenses

Attorneys representing rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs say they are no longer acting for the disgraced star in a dispute over months of unpaid legal bills.

The musician, who is serving a 50-month federal prison term for prostitution-related offenses, has become increasingly belligerent in recent months, causing “a total breakdown in cooperation and communication” with New York law firm Sher Tremonte, one of its partners Michael Tremonte said in a court filing.

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Trump threatens to stop trading with EU over ‘laughable’ membership offer to Canada

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US president responds as Mark Carney seeks to move closer to Europe and diversify defence ties

Donald Trump has threatened the EU with “serious tariffs” and a halt to trade after the bloc proposed making Canada its first ever associate member – an idea he derided as “laughable”.

The US president said that if the EU moved forward with the plan, Washington could impose “very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe”. He added: “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.”

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Peter Max, psychedelic pop artist who epitomized flower power, dies aged 88

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The US artist, whose swirly, colorful, instantly recognizable designs became hugely commercially successful, died on Monday

Peter Max, whose colorful, psychedelic pop art expressed the optimism of the “flower power” movement of the 1960s and graced everything from postage stamps to a cruise ship, has died at 88.

Max died on Monday, his son, Adam Max, said in a written statement on Wednesday. No cause was given.

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Texas kills man by lethal injection in state’s fifth execution this year

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LeJames Norman, 40, killed at Huntsville penitentiary while scheduled execution in Georgia halted by judge

A man convicted over the shooting deaths of three people was executed on Wednesday in Texas, while another execution scheduled for the same time in Georgia was halted by a judge.

It’s the fifth execution in Texas this year. Georgia has yet to put anyone to death this year. The nation’s busiest death chamber is in Florida, which accounted for more than half the 25 executions already carried out in the US this year.

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LA homelessness non-profit workers arrested over alleged corruption and bribes

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Pair accused of misappropriating millions in taxpayer dollars as Trump officials target alleged fraud in blue states

Federal law enforcement officers have arrested two employees of California-based homelessness non-profits on corruption charges, alleging that they misappropriated millions in taxpayer dollars.

The US justice department has arrested Michael Young, a founder of the Culver City-based nonprofit Home At Last, and Lakiya Malone, an employee of the Los Angeles-based Special Service for Groups. The two are expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

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More Republicans are turning on Iran war as midterms come into view

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Three more GOP members voted for war powers resolution to force withdrawal from the conflict as election looms

As the US war with Iran drags on, the ranks of Republicans signaling the conflict is a liability for their party continues to grow.

When the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening considered its sixth war powers resolution intended to force Donald Trump to withdraw troops from the conflict, three Republicans who had not supported the previous efforts broke with their party to vote this one to passage. Earlier that day, a Republican who had lost his primary after repeatedly clashing with Trump proposed impeaching the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, alleging a variety of constitutional transgressions including prosecuting the war against Iran without congressional authorization.

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US opts not to back Saudi Arabia in Yemen after meeting Houthi leaders

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Iran-backed militants have offered Trump administration assurances over safety of Red Sea shipping

Officials from the US met Houthi leaders over the weekend at the country’s embassy in Muscat, Oman, it has been confirmed, leading to the US decision not to intervene to help Saudi Arabia drive back a Houthi advance inside Yemen.

The Iran-backed militant group reassured the US that the ceasefire agreement between the two sides struck in 2025 still held and the movement had no intention of attacking US shipping in the Red Sea. Only Saudi-linked shipping was regarded as a target owing to its blockade of Yemen, the Houthis confirmed.

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US to bar some South Africans over claims of anti-white discrimination

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Announcement of visa restrictions follows Trump’s false claims of ‘white genocide’ taking place in South Africa

The US has announced visa restrictions on some South Africans as Donald Trump’s administration continues to claim that South Africa’s government racially discriminates against white minority Afrikaners.

The announcement did not specify individuals who were barred from the US. Trump has spent his second term falsely claiming there is a “white genocide” in South Africa and railing against its affirmative action policies.

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Al-Qaida and IS-linked violence in Africa’s Sahel belt set to hit record levels this year

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Twenty-five years after 9/11, figures compiled by conflict monitor underline how Sahel region has become centre of Islamist terror

Islamist extremist violence in Africa’s Sahel region is set to reach historic highs after a series of sweeping offensives by groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State, according to new figures compiled by the conflict monitor Acled.

As the US marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks launched by al-Qaida against targets in Washington and New York, the statistics underline the continued expansion of the veteran organisation in parts of Africa – in stark contrast with its relative weakness elsewhere.

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NBC helicopter crash in LA kills at least three people with others injured

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Accident occurred as news crews in Los Angeles were covering a bus crash that had killed at least two people hours earlier

A news helicopter crash in a Los Angeles neighborhood has killed at least three people, after it came to the ground and burst into flames near the site of a bus crash that occurred hours earlier.

The helicopter crashed near a one-storey commercial building in the neighborhood of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, as news crews were covering the bus crash that left at least two people dead and six others injured, according the Los Angeles Fire Department.

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Russia plotting to kill Ukraine allies in US and Europe, FBI says

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Intelligence services allegedly attempted to pay people to surveil and kill people perceived to be aligned with Ukraine

Russia’s intelligence services are plotting to carry out targeted killings in the United States and in European nations supporting Ukraine, federal authorities said Tuesday as they announced charges against five people who remain at large.

An indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court said a network of the intelligence services had paid and attempted to pay individuals in the United States and in other countries to surveil targets to be killed with plans to then kill them.

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US set to deliver 2,000lb bombs to Israel as part of vast arms deal

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Powerful bombs prompted such concern about mass deaths in Gaza that Biden officials paused delivery two years ago

The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000lb bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.

The $2.8bn package includes 40,000 bombs, made up of 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final.

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Fourth person dies of measles-associated illness in US

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All deaths occurred in Pennsylvania, in worst year since 1992 for one of the most contagious diseases

Pennsylvania health officials said a fourth person had died of measles-associated illness in the worst year for the disease since 1992. All four US deaths have occurred in the state.

Due to the Trump administration changing how it reports measles deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not count any of the deaths in its national tally. Three people died in 2025.

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Fourth person dies of measles-associated illness in US

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All deaths occurred in Pennsylvania, in worst year since 1992 for one of the most contagious diseases

Pennsylvania health officials said a fourth person had died of measles-associated illness in the worst year for the disease since 1992. All four US deaths have occurred in the state.

Due to the Trump administration changing how it reports measles deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not count any of the deaths in its national tally. Three people died in 2025.

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