Category Archives: US News

Inmates burn themselves in protest at ‘inhumane’ Virginia prison conditions

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Officials acknowledge prisoners have harmed themselves but say they did not set themselves on fire or self-immolate

Several incarcerated people in Virginia’s high-security Red Onion state prison have intentionally burned themselves in a protest against harsh conditions at the facility.

A written statement from Virginia’s department of corrections acknowledged that men imprisoned there had harmed themselves, although the authorities confirmed six incidents while others reported that 12 men were injured.

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Trump defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s mother called him ‘an abuser of women’

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Email from mother, published in the New York Times, said he mistreated women and displayed a lack of character

The family dynamics of Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, have burst out into the open after an email from his mother criticizing her son over his treatment of women and calling him an “abuser of women” was leaked to a newspaper.

A 2018 email from Penelope Hegseth accused her son of routinely mistreating women and displaying a lack of character.

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Musk could use the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ for self-enrichment

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He’s said $42.45bn spent by the US for rural internet isn’t efficient. His Starlink company stands to benefit if he reduces that investment

Elon Musk, named by Donald Trump to co-lead a commission aimed at reducing the size of the federal government, is poised to undermine funding for rural broadband services to benefit his satellite internet services company, Starlink.

Musk has long been a critic of the Biden administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (Bead) Program, which provides $42.45bn through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to expand high-speed internet access in rural communities. Starlink, the satellite internet services subsidiary of SpaceX, has largely been shut out of this funding after government agencies deemed it too slow to qualify.

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Study links higher PFAS levels to ‘superfund’ sites and limited fresh-food access

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Findings highlight how built environment in low-income neighborhoods presents multiple PFAS exposure routes

New research aimed at identifying which US neighborhoods face increased exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found those living near “superfund” sites and other major industrial polluters, or in areas with limited access to fresh food, generally have higher levels of the dangerous compounds in their blood.

The study looked at hundreds of people living in southern California and found those who do not live within a half mile of a grocery store have 14% higher levels of PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS compounds – in their blood than those who do.

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Smell like Trump: ‘victory cologne’ for sale as president-elect hawks his wares

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President-elect’s list of branded products continues to grow – and he seems to be profiting from his eclectic range

Donald Trump raised eyebrows earlier this month when he announced he was selling a line of $11,000 guitars – the musical instrument becoming the latest item in a string of Trump-endorsed products that include sneakers, a Bible and a “victory cologne”.

Billed as “the only guitar officially endorsed by President Donald J Trump”, the acoustic and electric axes bear all the gaudy insignia of Trump’s political campaigns, and have been developed “with the help of a master luthier”.

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Trudeau in Florida to meet Trump after tariffs threat – reports

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Canada’s PM to dine with US president-elect at Mar-a-Lago resort, news reports say, days after Trump threatens 25% tariff on Canadian imports

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, ahead of a meeting Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, according to media reports, days after the US president-elect threatened the US’s neighbour with import tariffs once he takes office.

The Canadian prime minister’s public itinerary does not list a scheduled visit to Florida. Neither Trudeau’s office nor Trump’s representatives immediately responded to requests for comment.

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Canadian media companies sue OpenAI in case potentially worth billions

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Litigants say AI company used their articles to train its popular ChatGPT software without authorization

Canada’s major news organizations have sued tech firm OpenAI for potentially billions of dollars, alleging the company is “strip-mining journalism” and unjustly enriching itself by using news articles to train its popular ChatGPT software.

The suit, filed on Friday in Ontario’s superior court of justice, calls for punitive damages, a share of profits made by OpenAI from using the news organizations’ articles, and an injunction barring the San Francisco-based company from using any of the news articles in the future.

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Ex-activist says FBI offered him deal to inform on fugitive arrested in Wales

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Peter Young says agency sought information from him about Daniel Andreas San Diego, who was on ‘most wanted terrorists’ list

A former animal rights activist who was on the run from the FBI for more than seven years claims that he was offered a deal to inform on one of the organisation’s most wanted fugitives who was arrested this week in Wales.

Peter Young, 47, who now lives in Boulder, Colorado, went on the run after being indicted in 1998 over a string of fur farm raids across three states the previous year. He was jailed in the US for two years in 2005 after spending years hiding from the FBI in the UK.

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New powder that captures carbon could be ‘quantum leap’ for industry

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A ‘covalent organic framework’ can be used to capture carbon to store it or convert it for industrial use

An innocuous yellow powder, created in a lab, could be a new way to combat the climate crisis by absorbing carbon from the air.

Just half a pound of the stuff may remove as much carbon dioxide as a tree can, according to early tests. Once the carbon is absorbed by the powder, it can be released into safe storage or be used in industrial processes, like carbonizing drinks.

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Abandoning Ukraine means ‘infinitely higher’ long-term security costs, MI6 chief says

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If Putin allowed to reduce Ukraine to vassal state ‘he will not stop there’, Richard Moore says in plea to Trump

Abandoning Ukraine would jeopardise British, European and American security and lead to “infinitely higher” costs in the long term, the head of MI6 has warned in a speech that amounted to a plea to Donald Trump to continue supporting Kyiv.

Richard Moore, giving a rare speech, said he believed Vladimir Putin “would not stop” at Ukraine if he was allowed to subjugate it in any peace talks involving the incoming US Republican administration.

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Bolivia’s former top anti-drug official to be extradited to US for drug trafficking

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Maximiliano Dávila Pérez, arrested in Bolivia in 2022, was accused of using his position to help transport cocaine

Bolivia’s highest court on Wednesday approved the extradition of the country’s former top anti-narcotics official to the US to face charges of trafficking narcotics.

Maximiliano Dávila Pérez briefly served as Bolivia’s top counter-narcotics official in 2019, before then president Evo Morales resigned. He later served as a police commander in Bolivia under the government of the current president, Luis Arce.

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First Thing: Trump victory ‘not a mandate for radical change’

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US expert says models showed voters did not seek sweeping transformation. Plus: hiker found alive after 50 days lost

Good morning.

Despite Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the presidential election, a political scientist who developed a model that correctly predicted his sweep of battleground states warns that voters have not necessarily given the president-elect a mandate to make radical changes.

What did Trump’s Ukraine envoy pick controversially propose? The retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg has written that the US could help end the war by withdrawing weapons from Ukraine if it does not enter peace talks – and giving even more weapons to Ukraine if Russia does not do the same.

What’s Musk’s latest big idea? The tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped to run a “department of government efficiency” has said he wants to “delete” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal watchdog that helps protect consumers from predatory financial practices.

Did they discuss tariffs? No, according to Sheinbaum, but she nevertheless said that her conversation with Trump had reassured her that no tit-for-tat tariff battle would be needed in future.

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Trump cabinet picks shaped by new power centers in his orbit

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Boris Epshteyn, Susie Wiles and JD Vance hold outsized influence in the president-elect’s administration selections

Donald Trump’s picks for the incoming administration are being shaped by a combination of different power centers including one-man influences like top Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn and combined groups led by chief of staff Susie Wiles and vice-president-elect JD Vance.

The president-elect appears to have settled on a number of cabinet nominees himself without being aggressively pushed by advisers, including Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Russ Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

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Even in blue Colorado, vaccine advocates worry about RFK Jr’s appeal and ‘medical freedom’ movement

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Growing rates of infectious disease in state’s most populous region could indicate increased ‘vaccine hesitancy’

In deep blue Colorado, one of the only states that did not shift right in the 2024 presidential election, vaccine advocates see openings for Robert F Kennedy Jr.

An environmental lawyer and the nation’s most prominent propagator of vaccine misinformation, Kennedy is now the embodiment of where left meets right – the scion of a political dynasty who first ran as a Democratic presidential candidate and is now slated to join president-elect Trump’s administration as the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

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Tesla owners turn against Musk: ‘I’m embarrassed driving this car around’

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The electric car brand was once a liberal favourite – but the CEO’s embrace of Trump has led to an angry backlash

As Elon Musk has embraced Donald Trump and various far-right conspiracy theories, he has left behind an aghast cohort of Tesla owners who suddenly feel embarrassed by their own cars. Many of them are now publicly displaying their dismay at Musk on their vehicles.

Sales of anti-Musk stickers have boomed since the world’s richest man declared his support for Trump and helped propel him to victory in the US presidential election, as owners of Teslas, the car brand headed by Musk, try to distance themselves from the South African-born multibillionaire.

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How climate policies reduce air pollution saving lives and money

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Early deaths from air pollution in US could be reduced by between 4,000 and 15,000 a year by 2035, study shows

The burning of fossil fuels that harms our climate also produces air pollution that damages ecosystems and harms our health. But we fail to tally up the benefits of reduced air pollution in our climate policies, and overlook opportunities to tackle these problems together.

A reminder of this failure is illustrated in a new study which has found that reduced air pollution from net zero policies in the US could result in a health gain of between $65bn (£51bn) and $128bn in 2035 alone.

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Bomb threats target Democratic Congress members from Connecticut

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Jim Himes, Joe Courtney and John Larson report threats to their homes, a day after Trump cabinet picks targeted

Several Democratic members of Congress from Connecticut have been targeted by bomb threats on their homes, the lawmakers or their offices said on Thursday.

Jim Himes, Joe Courtney and John Larson all reported that their homes were the subject of bomb threats. Police who responded said they found no evidence of a bomb on the lawmakers’ properties.

This happened a day after a number of Donald Trump’s most prominent cabinet picks and appointees reported that they had received bomb threats and “swatting attacks”, in which perpetrators initiate an emergency law enforcement response against a victim under false pretences.

Courtney’s Vernon home received a bomb threat while his wife and children were there, his office said.

Himes said on Thursday morning he was notified of the threat against his home during a Thanksgiving celebration with his family. The US Capitol police and Greenwich and Stamford police departments responded.

Himes extended his family’s “utmost gratitude to our local law enforcement officers for their immediate action to ensure our safety”. He added: “There is no place for political violence in this country, and I hope that we may all continue through the holiday season with peace and civility.”

Larson also said on Thursday that East Hartford police responded to a bomb threat against his home.

The threats follow an election season marked by violence. In July, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing him in the ear and killing one of his supporters. The Secret Service later thwarted a subsequent assassination attempt at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida, when an agent spotted the barrel of a gun poking through a perimeter fence while Trump was golfing.

Among those who received threats on Wednesday were New York representative Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to serve as the next ambassador to the UN; Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general; Oregon representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who Trump chose to lead the Department of Labor, and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who has been tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Mexican president claims ‘no potential tariff war’ with US after call with Trump

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Sheinbaum says she had cooperative talks with president-elect who threatened 25% tariff against Mexico on Tuesday

Claudia Sheinbaum has said her “very kind” phone conversation with Donald Trump, in which they discussed immigration and fentanyl, means “there will not be a potential tariff war” between the US and Mexico.

The president of Mexico spoke to reporters on Thursday following Trump’s threat earlier in the week to apply a 25% tariff against Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff against China, when he takes office in January if the countries did not stop all illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into the US.

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Trump’s Ukraine envoy pick proposed forcing peace talks by withdrawing US weapons

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In a co-authored document presented to Trump in April, Keith Kellogg also said US should give Ukraine more weapons if Russia doesn’t join negotiations

Donald Trump’s plan to tap the retired US lieutenant general Keith Kellogg as US envoy to Ukraine and Russia has triggered renewed interest in a policy document he co-authored that proposes ending the war by withdrawing weapons from Ukraine if it doesn’t enter peace talks – and giving even more weapons to Ukraine if Russia doesn’t do the same.

Trump is said to have responded favorably to the plan – America First, Russia & Ukraine – which was presented to him in April and was written by Kellogg and the former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz, who both served as chiefs of staff in Trump’s national security council from 2017 to 2021.

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Mark Zuckerberg dines with Trump at Mar-a-Lago despite former feud

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Meta CEO reportedly wants to support president-elect after previously banning him from Instagram and Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest former Donald Trump critic to make his way Mar-a-Lago to break bread with the incoming US president.

The tech mogul had banned Trump from the social media sites Instagram and Facebook, which he owns, following the January 6 riot that the president-elect egged on in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election.

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