Category Archives: US News

California Teamsters endorse Harris after national union declines to back any candidate – live

Posted on by

Union chief Sean O’Brien says ‘neither candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union’ but says member polls favored Trump

The US is still not prepared for inevitable Russian attacks on its elections, the former special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russian interference in 2016 and links between Donald Trump and Moscow, warns in a new book.

“It is … evident that Americans have not learned the lessons of Russia’s attack on our democracy in 2016,” Mueller writes in a preface to Interference: The Inside Story of Trump, Russia and the Mueller Investigation by Aaron Zebley, James Quarles and Andrew Goldstein, prosecutors who worked for Mueller from 2017 to 2019.

As we detailed in our report, the evidence was clear that the Russian government engaged in multiple, systematic attacks designed to undermine our democracy and favor one candidate over the other.”

Continue reading...

US House federal funding bill fails to pass as shutdown deadline nears

Posted on by

Contentious government funding package championed by Mike Johnson was voted down 202-220

A government funding package championed by Republican House speaker Mike Johnson failed to pass on Wednesday, with less than two weeks left to prevent a shutdown starting 1 October.

The final vote was 202 to 220, with 14 House Republicans and all but three House Democrats opposing the bill. Two Republican members voted “present”.

Continue reading...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to stay in jail until sex-trafficking trial begins as bail again denied

Posted on by

Second judge refuses bail to music mogul, 54, citing possibility that he could tamper with witnesses

Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will have to await trial on sex-trafficking and racketeering charges in a Brooklyn jail instead of his luxurious Miami Beach mansion after a second judge refused to grant a $50m bail package offered by his lawyers.

On Wednesday, US district judge Andrew L Carter Jr denied Combs’s request to be released to home detention with GPS monitoring, pointing to the possibility that Combs may tamper with witnesses.

Continue reading...

Body found near site of Kentucky highway mass shooting

Posted on by

Investigators working to identify body located in vicinity of I-75 exit where suspect Joseph Couch opened fire

Authorities have found a body near the rural south-eastern Kentucky site where on Saturday a gunman opened fire on an interstate highway, hitting a dozen vehicles and wounding five people, police said Wednesday.

Investigators were working to identify the body, said Scottie Pennington, state police master trooper, in a social media post. It was located in the vicinity of the Interstate 75 exit where the 7 September shooting occurred near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120km) south of Lexington.

Continue reading...

Civil rights groups condemn senator’s questioning of Arab American witness

Posted on by

Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana accuses thinktank director of supporting Hamas in heated hate crime hearing

A congressional hearing on hate crimes drew charges of the bigotry it was meant to address after a Republican senator told the female Muslim head of a thinktank to “hide your head in a bag” and accused her of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.

John Kennedy, the GOP senator for Louisiana, drew condemnation from Democrats as well as Muslim, Jewish and civil liberties groups for the remark, aimed at Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute, at a hearing staged by the Senate judiciary committee.

Continue reading...

Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge as he awaits retrial

Posted on by

New allegations against disgraced film mogul, currently jailed in New York, not related to his overturned conviction

Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.

Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.

Continue reading...

Families of Americans ensnared in DRC coup plot assert their innocence

Posted on by

Young Americans face death penalty for ‘amateurish’ assault in Congo that was led by one of their fathers

The family of a Utah student sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for his alleged role in a failed coup d’etat in which his father was killed fears he and two other Americans could be executed within days without US government intervention.

Marcel Malanga, 22, was one of dozens convicted and sentenced at a military tribunal in Kinshasa last week, after the attempted overthrow of the Congolese government in May. The “amateurish” assault, which left six dead, was led by his father, Christian Malanga, a former DRC opposition leader, army captain and self-styled warlord.

Continue reading...

September Supermoon: the best place and time to see tonight’s bigger and brighter full moon

Posted on by

Find a viewing spot that is dark and looks towards the east, which is where the moon will rise. A flat location will give a ‘really cool’ perspective, experts say

If you look up into the sky on Wednesday night, you’ll likely notice the full moon gleaming bigger and brighter than usual.

You’ll be looking at the second supermoon of the year – the term for when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth while it is full.

How to take a good photograph of the full moon on your phone or camera

Continue reading...

‘It is OK to stand out’: US teen’s hands and feet are world record-setting

Posted on by

Eric Kilburn, 16, says those who put others down over differences ‘are usually the most unhappy people out there’

Eric Kilburn Jr’s mother knew his feet were exceptionally big when, in his teens, she began needing to spend thousands of dollars to have his shoes specially made. But it turned out they were bigger than anyone else’s in the world who was his age – and so were his hands.

Sixteen-year-old Eric fits his 13.5in (34cm) feet in American size 23 shoes (UK size 22) – more than double the average of adult men, which is about 9 in the US. His hands, at 9.13in, easily surpass the 7.14in average for his age.

Continue reading...

Trump-allied Pac fires canvassing vendor in crucial states weeks before election

Posted on by

Elon Musk’s America Pac replaces voter turnout operations in Arizona and Nevada with less than 50 days until election

America Pac, one of the largest and the most ambitious of the groups supporting Donald Trump’s campaign, is replacing its voter turnout operations in the crucial battleground states of Arizona and Nevada, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The political action committee, backed by billionaire Elon Musk, has ended its contract with the September Group and will hire a new company to knock on doors with fewer than 50 days left until the election.

Continue reading...

Trump praises Secret Service in first event since thwarted assassination plot

Posted on by

Former president talks up tariffs in Flint, Michigan, and warns attendees of dangers of nuclear ‘obliteration’

Trump held his first campaign event on Tuesday since the thwarted assassination attempt over the weekend, telling a packed 6,000-seat arena in Flint, Michigan that the assassin “couldn’t even get a shot off” while describing the Secret Service’s “great” response to the threat.

During a town hall moderated by former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump took audience questions about manufacturing and the economy, among other issues. Like his first appearance after the attempt on his life in July – also a rally in Michigan – Trump appeared ready to return to business as usual on the campaign trail, and his supporters were eager to see him in action.

Continue reading...

Russia propaganda group behind fake Kamala Harris hit-and-run story, says Microsoft

Posted on by

Microsoft researchers found that the group created a video, paid an actor to appear as the alleged victim, and spread the claim through a fake website

A false claim circulating on social media that Kamala Harris was involved in an alleged hit-and-run in San Francisco in 2011 is the work of a covert Russian disinformation operation, according to new research by Microsoft.

Researchers found that the group created a video, paid an actor to appear as the alleged victim, and spread the claim through a fake website for a nonexistent San Francisco news outlet named KBSF-TV. The Russian group responsible, which Microsoft dubs Storm-1516, is described as a Kremlin-aligned troll farm.

Continue reading...

JD Vance defends pet-eating remarks: ‘The media has a responsibility to fact-check’

Posted on by

Republican VP nominee claims at Wisconsin rally that constituents told him ‘they’d seen something in Springfield’

JD Vance defended his comments about Haitian immigrants eating pets during a Tuesday rally, saying that “the media has a responsibility to fact-check” stories – not him.

The rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, came two days after the Ohio senator told CNN host Dana Bash it was OK “to create stories” to draw attention to issues his constituents care about, regarding inflammatory and unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had eaten residents’ pets.

Continue reading...

Exploding pager attack in Lebanon is another blow for US peace hopes

Posted on by

Violent blow against Hezbollah leaves the militia vengeful and vulnerable – and again dashes Washington’s diplomacy

For American diplomacy in the Middle East, the extraordinary attack in Lebanon that simultaneously detonated hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members could not have come at a less auspicious moment – and may still spark an escalation that the US had been seeking desperately to avoid.

A day before the coordinated sabotage, Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Joe Biden, was in Israel urging Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials against an escalation in Lebanon. The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, had also warned that time was running out to find a negotiated settlement between Israel and Hezbollah.

Continue reading...

Suspect charged as Trump calls Biden and Harris ‘the enemy within’ | First Thing

Posted on by

Ryan Wesley Routh has been charged with two gun-related crimes. Plus, Jane’s Addiction and rock’n’roll’s biggest bust-ups

Good morning.

The suspect who camped out at Donald Trump’s golf course with a gun has been charged in federal court with two firearms-related crimes, as the former president amped up tensions by blaming Kamala Harris and Joe Biden for the incident.

What else did he contribute to the discourse? He claimed the suspects in both this week’s incident and July’s assassination attempt were “radical lefts” – but Routh’s political positions seem incoherent, while Thomas Matthew Crooks’ motivation remains unclear.

How many people have been killed in conflict between Lebanon and Israel? Hundreds in Lebanon, mostly fighters, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side. Civilians have fled on both sides of the border.

Continue reading...

Trump recounts apparent assassination attempt as new details emerge

Posted on by

Former president praises Secret Service as cellphone records show alleged gunman camped out near golf course for about 12 hours

Donald Trump has given his first detailed account of what he experienced on Sunday during what the FBI has said “appears to be an attempted assassination of the former president”, as authorities revealed new details about the incident at his West Palm Beach golf club.

Trump said he was playing golf with friends, including businessman Steve Witkoff, when he heard gunshots.

Continue reading...

Trump appears at town hall in Michigan – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is closed now, thanks for following along. You can find the latest US elections coverage here.

As far as the election campaign is concerned, this week the Kamala Harris team has its focus on youth turnout to coincide with today’s National Voter Registration Day.

In a statement campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez said: “The stakes this November couldn’t be higher, and vice-president Harris knows our democracy is stronger when we all vote. We are focused on meeting young Americans where they are to drive home the stakes of this election on the issues they care most about.”

Continue reading...

Election officials ‘look over our shoulders more’ as US political violence surges

Posted on by

Public officials lower on the ticket, who don’t have Secret Service protection, say they are concerned after the gunman on Trump’s golf course underscored the rising threat of violence

The second apparent attempt on Donald Trump’s life on Sunday is the latest episode this year to underscore the way that the threat of violence has become ubiquitous for public officials in American life.

It is a threat that touches officials at every level, from presidential candidates like Trump, who have around-the-clock protection from the Secret Service, to lower level judges and election officials, who do not have that level of security.

Continue reading...

Democrats campaign carefully after apparent Trump assassination plot

Posted on by

The party has been quick to condemn political violence – and is focusing its criticism on Trump’s unpopular policies

In comments to Fox News Digital on Monday, Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the repeated attempts on his life. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country – both from the inside and out,” he said.

Also on Monday, the former president released a list of quotes that the campaign described as incendiary. At the top of that list was a quote from Kamala Harris saying: “Trump is a threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms.”

Continue reading...

Far-right conspiracies abound after second apparent Trump assassination attempt

Posted on by

Baseless theories about suspect Ryan Wesley Routh and his alleged ties to US military spread online after his arrest

After a man who appears to be obsessive about the war in Ukraine was arrested for allegedly attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on Sunday, rumors and conspiracy theories have spread online attempting to tie Democrats to the two assassination attempts on the former president this election.

Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect charged with gun-related crimes on Monday, previously conducted media interviews about his efforts to recruit volunteer fighters, particularly from Afghanistan, to help Ukraine in its war against Russia. Routh also apparently self-published an e-book on Ukraine in which he said that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump as well as me”, according to media reports.

Continue reading...