Category Archives: US News

RFK Jr says Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water

Posted on by

Kennedy, who Trump promised to let lead health programs, makes claims against fluoride, which strengthens teeth

Robert F Kennedy Jr, a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that the former president would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear-and-tear, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

Don’t miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

Continue reading...

Trump and Harris agree on a bleak view of the US – if the other one wins

Posted on by

The ex-president and vice-president converge on a unifying message: if I lose, the country will not be the same

In a speech filled with promises, falsehoods, insults and jokes delivered by Donald Trump to a packed Wisconsin arena six days before the presidential election, one line stood out: “November 5 will be the most important day in the history of our country.”

Hyperbole? Undoubtedly, and exactly the sort that the former president has used repeatedly in the past months, as he plots a return to the White House that Joe Biden ousted him from four years ago. Did it ring true to his supporters? For many, the answer was yes.

Continue reading...

Trump refutes Iowa poll showing Harris ahead in red state: ‘It’s not even close!’

Posted on by

Selzer poll, widely respected organization with good record in Iowa, shows vice-president leading Trump 47% to 44%

Donald Trump has passionately disputed a shock Iowa poll that found Kamala Harris leading the former president in the typically red state 47% to 44%.

“No President has done more for FARMERS, and the Great State of Iowa, than Donald J. Trump,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network on Sunday morning. “In fact, it’s not even close! All polls, except for one heavily skewed toward the Democrats by a Trump hater who called it totally wrong the last time, have me up, BY A LOT.”

Don’t miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

Continue reading...

Can you ‘undo’ political polarization? Left and right might be closer than we think, study finds

Posted on by

University of California, Berkeley, research shows people are committed to protecting democratic institutions despite differences

You know that uncle whose political takes threaten to turn family gatherings into food fights? Don’t decline his Thanksgiving invitation just yet. When it comes to support for democracy, left and right in America are much closer than you might think.

As a historic US election approaches, both sides see each other as working to upend democracy. But it’s our assumptions about our political opponents – rather than their actual views – that drive polarization, according to new research. And if Democrats want to prove to voters on the fence that they’re acting in good faith, they might want to consider a surprising “grand gesture”.

Continue reading...

Remains of beloved Grizzly No 399 killed by car returned to Wyoming park

Posted on by

Ashes of 28-year-old female grizzly bear returned to Grand Teton national park where she spent much of her life

The remains of a beloved grizzly bear who died last month after being hit by a car in Wyoming have been returned to Grand Teton national park.

In a statement released on Friday, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it returned the ashes of Grizzly No 399, a 28-year old female grizzly bear, to the Pilgrim Creek area of the national park where she spent much of her life.

Continue reading...

US-Iranian journalist believed to have been detained in Iran

Posted on by

News of Reza Valizadeh’s imprisonment comes as Iran marks 45th anniversary of US embassy hostage crisis

An Iranian-American journalist who once worked for a US government-funded broadcaster is believed to have been detained by Iran for months, authorities have said, further raising the stakes as Tehran threatens to retaliate over an Israeli attack on the country.

The imprisonment of Reza Valizadeh, which was acknowledged to the Associated Press by the US Department of State, came as Iran marked the 45th anniversary on Sunday of the US embassy takeover and hostage crisis. It also followed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatening both Israel and the US the day before with “a crushing response” as long-range B-52 bombers reached the Middle East in an attempt to deter Tehran.

Continue reading...

Harris grabs unexpected last-minute lead over Trump in Iowa poll

Posted on by

In shocking result that could reshape the race, ex-president falls three points behind in a state he won in 2016 and 2020

A poll in Iowa that has unexpectedly put Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump in what was previously expected to be a safe state for the Republicans has sent shockwaves through America’s poll-watchers.

The Selzer poll carried out for the Des Moines Register newspaper showed Harris ahead of her Republican rival by three points.

Continue reading...

Thousands of women rally nationwide for abortion rights and feminist causes

Posted on by

Demonstrators from Texas to Connecticut and Washington DC carried signs and chanted: ‘We won’t go back!’

Thousands of women rallied Saturday in the nation’s capital and elsewhere in support of abortion rights and other feminist causes ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Demonstrators carried posters and signs through city streets, chanting slogans such as: “We won’t go back!” Some men joined with them. Speakers urged people to vote in the election – not only for president but also on down-ballot issues such as abortion-rights amendments that are going before voters in various states.

Continue reading...

Georgia judge rejects last-ditch Republican attempt to block voting

Posted on by

Judge allows Fulton county election offices to be open Saturday and Sunday for mail-in ballots to be dropped off

A Georgia judge on Saturday rejected a Republican lawsuit trying to block counties from opening election offices on Saturday and Sunday to let voters hand in their mail ballots in person.

The lawsuit only named Fulton county, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta and is home to 11% of the state’s voters. But at least five other populous counties that tend to vote for Democrats also announced election offices would open over the weekend to allow hand return of absentee ballots.

Continue reading...

Drugs and weapons seized in sweep of jail where Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is held

Posted on by

Brooklyn detention center holding 1,200 has been under scrutiny since two fatal stabbings this summer

Federal authorities have confirmed that they seized drugs, homemade weapons and electronic devices during a sweep of the jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held on sex trafficking conspiracy charges ahead of a trial next year.

The Bureau of Prisons, which headed up the interagency sweep of the Metropolitan detention center (MDC) in Brooklyn that began on Monday, said the action was not related to Combs’s detention but was “preplanned and coordinated to ensure the safety and security” of staff and inmates.

Continue reading...

New Yorkers urged to conserve water after driest October in 150 years

Posted on by

Mayor Eric Adams asks residents to take shorter showers as city agencies ordered to prepare conservation plans

New York’s mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October in the city and in much of the United States.

A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of water-saving directives, and Eric Adams pitched it in a social media video as a step to try to ward off the possibility of a worse shortage in the United States’ most populous city.

Continue reading...

Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib declines to endorse Kamala Harris

Posted on by

The Palestinian American ‘squad’ member has been critical of Harris and the Democratic party’s inaction on Gaza

Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib declined to endorse Kamala Harris at a union rally in Detroit, where the war in Gaza is the top issue for the largest block of Arab American voters in the country.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, is the only one of the so-called leftist “Squad” that has not endorsed the Democrat candidate. The other three members – Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York – endorsed Harris in July.

Continue reading...

US politics live: Women’s marches hit the streets in support of Harris as both candidates target east coast – as it happened

Posted on by

Harris leading Trump in new Iowa poll in startling reversal, pulling ahead of Trump 47% to 44%

Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump head to North Carolina on Saturday to try to clinch support in the south-eastern battleground state just three days before Tuesday’s US presidential election.

It will be the fourth day in a row that vice-president Harris and former president Trump visit the same state on the same day, underlining the critical importance of the seven states likely to decide the race, which opinion polls show to be on a knife’s edge, Reuters reported.

Continue reading...

Shark bites off surfer’s leg in Hawaii

Posted on by

A 61-year-old man was surfing on Friday morning when a shark bit him, completely severing his leg

A shark bit a Maui surfer on Friday and severed his leg, authorities said.

The man, 61, was surfing off Waiehu Beach Park on Friday morning when a shark bit him. Police officers who arrived to the scene first tried to control the bleeding with tourniquets. His right leg was “completely severed just below the knee,” Maui county said in a news release.

Continue reading...

Indiana prosecutors claim man confessed to killing two teens on hiking trail in 2017

Posted on by

Richard Allen’s alleged admission came after investigators struggled over case of Liberty German and Abigail Williams

Prosecutors in the trial of Richard Allen, who is accused of killing two teenage girls in Indiana, continued this week to build their case with testimony from a prison psychologist and law enforcement officials who lent credence to the allegation that Allen confessed to the murders while in prison in 2023.

Allen’s alleged admissions came after investigators struggled for years to find the person who killed Liberty “Libby” German, 14, and Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, in 2017 on a hiking trail outside the small town of Delphi.

Continue reading...

US students score win in push for fossil fuel divestment by private high schools

Posted on by

Concerned students press for their high schools – some with $1bn endowments – to reinvest in clean energy

A high school in California has decided not to invest in coal, oil or gas, instead pledging to put money into clean energy. It’s the latest win in a new fossil fuel divestment campus campaign launched by high schoolers across 11 countries that is gaining support in the US.

The Nueva School, an elite private school outside San Francisco, pledged in spring 2024 to invest a portion of its $55m endowment in renewable power. The commitment followed months of pressure from students.

Continue reading...

Elon Musk’s canvassing operation sued in California for alleged labor law violations

Posted on by

Plaintiffs accuse America Pac of several violations during its operation to support Orange county’s Michelle Steel

Elon Musk’s troubled canvassing operation on behalf of Donald Trump and the Republican party is now facing a lawsuit in southern California filed by two women who say they were cheated out of wages and expenses as they knocked on doors for an embattled Republican congresswoman.

The suit accuses Musk’s America PAC, which has poured more than $100m into this year’s election campaign, of “willful violations of the California labor code” by paying the plaintiffs less than it promised and refusing to make up the difference.

Continue reading...

Supreme court rejects Republican bid to throw out thousands of Pennsylvania ballots; Harris says Trump’s Cheney remarks ‘disqualifying’ – live

Posted on by

Justices rule swing state can count provisional ballots of voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected; Harris condemns Republican nominee’s gun remarks

Joe Biden has released the following statement on the latest job report:

In October, unemployment was unchanged at 4.1%, but the devastation from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and new strike activity, lowered job growth. Job growth is expected to rebound in November as our hurricane recovery and rebuilding efforts continue. In addition, I want to congratulate the leadership of the Machinists and Boeing for negotiating a new contract proposal that will be voted on by union members. Machinists at Boeing have sacrificed over the years and deserve a strong contract.

America’s economy remains strong, with 16m jobs created since I took office, including an average 180,000 jobs created each month over the last year – more than the year before the pandemic. We have the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years, our economy has grown more than any presidential term this century, incomes are up $4,000 over prices, and inflation has fallen nearly to its 2% target.

Continue reading...

Trump repeats attack on Liz Cheney and laments bad hair day at Michigan rally

Posted on by

Ex-president’s speech comes as race enters final stretch, amid battle with Kamala Harris to woo Michigan voters

Donald Trump on Friday tried to energize his voters during a rally in Warren, Michigan, delivering an address replete with his characteristic fear-mongering about immigrants and tangents including musings about his hair.

The former president also repeated his aggressive attack on former Republican representative Liz Cheney, one day after he said she should be under fire with rifles “shooting at her”.

Continue reading...

Blow for Republicans as supreme court rejects appeal over Pennsylvania ballots

Posted on by

Voters in key swing state will be able to cast provisional vote if they forget to put mail-in ballot in secrecy envelope

Pennsylvania voters will be able to cast a provisional vote if they make an error and forget to put their mail-in vote in a required secrecy envelope, the US supreme court ruled on Friday, a decision that could lead to thousands more votes being counted in a key battleground state where the presidential race is extremely tight.

The supreme court announced its decision on Friday on its emergency docket, giving no reasoning for its ruling, which is customary in emergency cases.

Continue reading...