Court will hear arguments in case that could see app banned in US if not sold to American firm by 19 January
President-elect Donald Trump has urged the US supreme court to pause implementation of a law that would ban popular social media app TikTok or force its sale, arguing he should have time after taking office to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue.
The court is set to hear arguments in the case on 10 January.
Continue reading...The anti-abortion movement is looking at ways to control information about how and where to obtain abortions
The next front in the US abortion wars may be what people are allowed to say about it.
More than two years after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in the case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, US abortions are on the rise, thanks in large part to the spread of abortion pills and travel across state lines. This has infuriated anti-abortion advocates, who have proposed policies to help the incoming Trump administration curtail the mailing of abortion pills and targeted individuals and groups that help women get out-of-state abortions. In a sign of how the issue is pitting states against one another, Texas earlier this monthsued a New York-based doctor who allegedly provided a telehealth abortion to a Texan woman.
Continue reading...Several days of snow brought avalanche risk at Christmas, as wintry weather also caused four deaths in India
A snowstorm developed across the Alps on Saturday 21 December due to a low-pressure system situated over the Adriatic Sea. This depression allowed relatively warm and moist air to push into the Alps, condensing and falling as snow as it met the much colder alpine air mass. Snowfall continued for several days, with well over 1 metre of snow on some peaks and significant snowfall across many ski villages. Consequently, there was a significant avalanche risk over the Christmas period.
Ski resorts in Bulgaria also experienced significant snow starting on Christmas Day, which caused disruption in the mountainous west, where ski resorts had to temporarily shut down due to road closures. Towns such as Troyan, Samokov and Teteven were particularly badly affected with snowdrifts and power failures.
Continue reading...Mutations are rare but have been reported in some cases in other countries and most often in extreme infections
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient’s property.
The CDC said the patient’s sample showed mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) gene, the part of the virus that plays a key role in it attaching to host cells.
Continue reading...Kathy Hochul calls for ousting of correction officers and nurse allegedly involved in death of Robert Brooks, 43
The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, has directed 14 workers at a state prison to be fired after they were allegedly involved in an attack that resulted in the death of an incarcerated man.
Robert Brooks, 43, died in a local hospital a day after a 9 December incident at the Marcy correctional facility in central New York.
Continue reading...At least one dead and three missing amid storm that has split wharf, wrecked boat and piled up debris
California residents are being warned to stay off wharves, piers and other waterside structures as 20-30ft waves are expected to batter the northern Pacific coast for the rest of the week.
The National Weather Service advisory comes after a 150ft section of the wharf in Santa Cruz collapsed amid high waves on Monday, and storm debris was blamed for the death of a Santa Cruz county man on a beach in Watsonville.
Continue reading...Northwest Naturals has told customers to throw out Feline Turkey Recipe pet food after batch tested positive for virus
A voluntary recall of raw and frozen cat food has been issued in Oregon after a cat that died of bird flu was linked to the product, state officials have said.
Northwest Naturals has instructed customers of its Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food to throw out the product if its sell-by date falls between 21 May 2026 and 23 June 2026.
Continue reading...On Truth Social, president-elect also lashes out at Chinese troops in Panama Canal and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau
Donald Trump has told 37 people on death row who had their sentences commuted by Joe Biden to “go to hell” in a lacerating Christmas Day social media post.
The president-elect – long a vocal advocate of capital punishment – lashed out at Biden’s decision on his Truth Social platform, after wishing a merry Christmas to political opponents he addressed as “Radical Left Lunatics”.
Continue reading...Family plans to livestream memorial service for teenage actor who died two days after getting hurt in Vestavia Hills, Alabama
The teenage actor Hudson Meek has died after he fell out of a moving vehicle in Alabama, authorities said.
Meek, 16, was hurt on December 19 while on a street in Vestavia Hills, a suburb of Birmingham. He died two days later, according to the Jefferson county coroner’s office.
Continue reading...Tom Homan also said that undocumented parents of US-born children will be deported, with or without their kids
US immigration authorities will resume the controversial policy of putting families with children in detention centres as part of a drive to deport undocumented immigrants, the incoming Trump administration’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, has said.
Homan, regarded as the “architect” of the widely vilified family separation policy applied to undocumented immigrants in the first Trump administration, also said officials would not hesitate to deport parents whose children were American citizens because they had been born in the US.
Continue reading...Announcement comes as Trump has threatened to reassert control over canal, which US handed to Panama in 1999
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated the Miami-Dade county commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as ambassador to Panama.
Trump described Cabrera as “a fierce fighter for America First principles” who he said has been instrumental in driving economic growth and fostering international partnerships.
Continue reading...Members are in limbo as Lupin Lodge is on the market after nearly 90 years – with next buyer likely to require clothes
After nearly 90 years as a historic nudist resort, California’s Lupin Lodge is up for sale – and its next owners are likely to require guests to wear clothes.
The 112-acre Silicon Valley property became a retreat for members of the “naturist” movement in 1935. Today, its hundreds of members enjoy the resort’s clothing-optional hiking trails, pickleball court and its nude-only community pool. (Yes: the members really do hike naked.)
Continue reading...Bengal tiger, cougars, a lynx and bobcats dead as disease spreads rapidly among US poultry flocks and dairy herds
Twenty exotic cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu at an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington.
The feline deaths come as bird flu, a highly pathogenic avian influenza, has spread rapidly through poultry flocks and dairy herds in the US, infected and killed domestic cats, and caused a severe illness in a person in Louisiana.
Continue reading...Flight left Chicago’s O’Hare airport on morning of Christmas Eve and body discovered at Hawaii’s Kahului airport
Police are investigating the discovery of a dead body in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed in Hawaii, the airline and the Maui police department said in statements on Wednesday.
The body was found in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears on flight 202, which arrived at Kahului airport from Chicago on Tuesday, United said in an emailed statement.
Continue reading...Donations, not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries seek favor with incoming administration
US business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.
The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect decisively won a second, non-consecutive term in November.
Continue reading...Odds of winning jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, compared with 1 in 24 for any Mega Millions prize, and tickets cost $2
The Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed $1bn after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Christmas Eve. That means the estimated jackpot for Friday’s drawing is $1.15bn, potentially the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.
“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15bn jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a Wednesday statement.
Continue reading...Victims of Medellín cartel demand justice as some express dismay former mob boss faces no charges in Colombia
The return of the former drug trafficker Fabio Ochoa to Colombia following his deportation from the United States has reopened old wounds among victims of the Medellín cartel, with some expressing dismay at the Colombian authorities’ decision to let Ochoa walk free.
Some of the cartel victims said they were hoping the former drug lord will at least cooperate with ongoing efforts by human rights groups to investigate one of the most violent periods of Colombia’s history and demanded that Colombian prosecutors also take Ochoa in for questioning.
Continue reading...UK government accused of ‘nitpicking about compensation’ after being told to pay more to retain military base
Mauritius is holding out over a deal to gain control of the Chagos Islands from the UK, leaving ministers less than a month to rescue the agreement.
The government in Mauritius, which took office last month, has made clear it is dissatisfied with the terms negotiated by the previous administration. Over the weekend the deputy prime minister accused the British government of “nitpicking about the compensation”.
Continue reading...Trump’s Pentagon pick says president-elect spoke to him on Thursday morning as media reports say Hegseth faced HR investigation over Fox Christmas party antics
Pete Hegseth has continued promoting his nomination for defense secretary on X, writing:
Maybe it’s time for a [defense secretary] who has…
Led in combat. Been on patrol for days. Pulled a trigger. Heard bullets whiz by. Called in close air support. Led medevacs. Dodged IEDs.
We’re going to confirm @PeteHegseth !
The importance of a warrior for the war fighter cannot be overstated. The Secretary of Defense must be clear-eyed, mission-oriented, and vigilant on behalf of the men and women they lead. I appreciate @PeteHegseth’s willingness to serve. The scrutiny of the nomination process and transparency matter. I look forward to his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Continue reading...Senior party figures consider withholding contributions to presidential library to express anger at pardon for son
Senior Democrats are reportedly considering withholding contributions to Joe Biden’s future presidential library amid a mounting backlash over his decision grant a blanket pardon to his son Hunter.
The threat has emerged as simmering anger among congressional Democrats – already building over the president’s insistence on seeking a second term before belatedly stepping aside as the party nominee in favour of Kamala Harris – has burst into the open over Sunday’s pardon, which Biden had previously vowed not to give.
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