Sirens sound in Bahrain and Kuwait accuses Tehran of targeting civilian sites and infrastructure as Iran strikes US allies
The US retaliated against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) after two American troops were killed and one was missing in Jordan when Tehran launched a wave of attacks against US allies in the Middle East.
Iran’s attacks came as the renewal of US strikes on Iran entered a second week and fighting escalated over the strait of Hormuz.
Continue reading...Kyle Bylin and Jeremy Morrison uncovered the truth after Bylin received an at-home DNA test as a Christmas gift
A DNA discovery has led two families to accuse a North Dakota hospital of changing the course of their lives after learning two newborns were allegedly switched at birth nearly four decades ago.
Kyle Bylin uncovered the truth after receiving an at-home DNA test during a Christmas gift exchange. The test connected him with his biological aunt through a genealogy platform, prompting her nephew, Jeremy Morrison, to take his own DNA test. The results confirmed the two men had been raised by each other’s biological families.
Continue reading...Pete Hegseth announced that soldiers aged 30 and older in the US military will be screened for low testosterone
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, this week ordered annual testosterone-deficiency screening for active-duty and reserve service members aged 30 and older, which he says will help to maintain military readiness.
But many medical professionals warn it might do nothing of the sort and instead could increase service members’ risk of infertility or other consequences if testosterone is prescribed inappropriately.
Continue reading...Rain could alleviate conditions in mid-Atlantic and north-east, with World Cup final expected to go ahead on Sunday
Warnings of dangerous conditions are expected to remain in place on Saturday across swathes of the US, amid uncertainty about where the heavy wildfire smoke swirling from the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of Minnesota will head next.
Some parts of the US mid-Atlantic and north-east regions will continue to endure poor air quality until Saturday afternoon, where there is a high chance of thunderstorms, which could bring some reprieve from the poor air but come with other risks like flash flooding and high winds. Meanwhile, parts of the midwest and Great Lakes regions will continue to see dangerous air quality.
Continue reading...As Cuba swelters under six-month oil blockade imposed by US, tempers are fraying and unrest is growing
When Cuba’s national grid collapses, as it did for the third time in 10 days on Tuesday, a collective groan spreads across its cities and people wonder, again, whether the island’s antiquated electricity system may soon become unrecoverable.
The 777-mile Caribbean island of 9.5 million people has been sweltering under a six-month-long oil blockade imposed by the US, part of a pressure campaign to bring down its communist government. But the parlous state of Cuba’s infrastructure goes far further back.
Continue reading...White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speech
The White House has backed Argentina’s footballers who displayed a banner supporting their country’s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final victory against England.
After Argentina’s 2-1 win in a fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up a banner that said: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – using the country’s term for the South Atlantic islands.
Continue reading...Demonstrations planned across the US this weekend will focus on three issues likely to define the midterm elections
Thousands of Americans are expected to take to the streets this weekend in mass protests around issues likely to define the midterm elections: widespread violence from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, voter suppression and datacenter construction.
The protests – some recently planned in response to last week’s ICE shootings, others an annual event with new urgency – will take place not just in big cities and progressive towns, but also in rural and red areas.
Continue reading...Fire crew in Gilbert to honor Royal Cothrun, 14, for helping elderly woman who became disoriented amid heatwave
An Arizona fire department is formally honoring a 14-year-old boy who recently helped save an elderly woman with dementia after she wandered miles off course amid potentially lethal temperatures, saying the teenager demonstrated “heroism … quick thinking and compassion”.
Royal Cothrun was riding his bicycle in June in the town of Gilbert when he encountered Theresa Morgan as she struggled to walk through 103F (39.4C) heat with a grocery bag dangling off one arm and a purse on the other, according to authorities as well as reporting by the local news outlet KNXV.
Continue reading...Less than a month after hailing a ceasefire, Trump resumed strikes on Iran, a move experts warn could prolong the war and hurt Republicans ahead of midterms
For half a century, Donald Trump has performed a public high-wire act based on high-stakes risks and shattering time-honored norms to get what he wants.
The approach has paid off handsomely, helping him survive multiple bankruptcies to reach billionaire status and numerous legal and political scandals to be elected US president twice.
Continue reading...Tondra Madruga named as second victim in deadly capsizing as police continue search for two missing people
Police on Friday discovered the wreckage of a boat that sank this week in the San Francisco Bay after recovering the body of a missing person the day before.
The body was identified as Tondra Madruga, 58, also known as Tondra Miller, the San Francisco medical examiner said. She was one of three people missing after the Volare, a 49ft (15m) cabin cruiser, sank on Wednesday afternoon with 20 people onboard after being hit by a wave and capsizing. The group was on the boat to scatter the ashes of a loved one.
Continue reading...Officials haven’t released additional information about the person’s identity, age or details on when and how they fell ill
A legionnaires’ disease outbreak that has sickened dozens of people in New York City has claimed its first life, health officials said Friday.
Officials didn’t release additional information about the person’s identity, age or details on when and how they fell ill.
Continue reading...Whereabouts of artist imprisoned after 2021 protests had been unknown following end of his prison term in July
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a prominent Cuban dissident artist whose whereabouts remained unknown after his prison sentence ended last week, has been given permission to travel to the US, according to his official Facebook page.
Otero Alcántara, designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2022 for insulting national symbols, contempt and disturbing the public order.
Continue reading...109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US
Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.
The pungent smoke blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air-quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.
Continue reading...FDA investigation identified a single supplier of the lettuce, but federal warnings did not name the company
Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served by Taco Bell locations across five US states as a source of the widespread outbreak of the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the source late on Thursday and warned consumers not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
Continue reading...Leaked US intelligence report concluded Iran retained 70% of missiles and launchers after 38-day spring campaign
Iran and the US have been trading blows for six consecutive nights and there are no shortage of signs that the renewed fighting will worsen further. Tehran and Washington remain far apart diplomatically, and though the US retains a significant military overmatch, Iran has more than enough capability to inflict damage.
Friday’s developments are a case in point. A wave of US attacks, with missiles launched from jets, drones and warships, targeted Iranian ports and the south of the country, collapsing a tower at Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman, and highways and bridges into the strait of Hormuz port of Bandar Abbas, perhaps in an effort to cut it off.
Continue reading...Aid workers are first known people to quarantine at facility, which sparked huge opposition in Kenya
Seven American aid workers who had been in Congo to fight the Ebola outbreak are quarantining at a new isolation facility in Kenya after the US government introduced travel restrictions, the head of a US charity employing them told Reuters.
The aid workers are the first known people to quarantine at the facility, which has sparked huge opposition in Kenya and is at the heart of a legal case in which a court has ordered the work to be suspended. Construction continued, however, according to US officials and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters.
Continue reading...Virginia’s Mark Warner says speech was ‘just lies and long-debunked conspiracies’
Several major networks declined to air Donald Trump’s primetime televised address on Thursday, citing concerns that the content could be politically partisan or inflammatory.
CNN, ABC and NBC chose not to air the speech live, but CBS, Fox News and MS Now (formerly MSNBC) aired at least large portions of the speech live. Some ABC station station affiliates – including the Washington DC station owned by right-leaning broadcaster Sinclair – also chose to air the speech.
Continue reading...Arrest in Pennsylvania of Wu Shaoping, who is awaiting asylum decision, raises fears of deportation and persecution
A Chinese human rights lawyer has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raising concerns he could be deported to China where he would face persecution.
Wu Shaoping fled China at the end of 2019 amid a crackdown on human rights lawyers. He travelled to the US on a tourist visa and made an asylum claim in 2020, for which he is still awaiting a decision.
Continue reading...Move would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to potentially profit from seeing president’s posts first
Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own, affecting national security and financial markets.
The move announced on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news first from top Truth Social contributors so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates.
Continue reading...Opponents say president’s address about 2020 election loss is attempt to sow confusion ahead of midterms that could deliver big losses for Republicans
Donald Trump accused China of interfering with the 2020 election in a primetime televised address that laid bare his continuing obsession with his defeat to Joe Biden, but which opponents warned was a smokescreen for him to meddle in the forthcoming congressional midterms.
In a 25-minute speech on Thursday that had been hyped by Trump himself, the US president cast extraordinary doubts on the integrity of the US electoral process, saying it was “catastrophically” short of standards of fairness and trust, and vulnerable to trespassing by foreign powers.
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