Category Archives: US News

About 8,000 North Korean soldiers at Ukraine border, says US

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Antony Blinken warns that Russia is preparing to deploy the troops into combat ‘in the coming days’

About 8,000 North Korean soldiers are stationed in Russia on the border with Ukraine, the US secretary of state has said, warning that Moscow is preparing to deploy those troops into combat “in the coming days”.

Antony Blinken said the US believed that North Korea had sent 10,000 troops to Russia in total, deploying them first to training bases in the far east before sending the vast majority to the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine.

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How will the outcome of the US election affect Australia, Aukus and our region?

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Australia’s future is closely tied to the future occupant of the White House. What impacts could a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump presidency have?

More people have gone to a ballot box in 2024 than in any other year in human history. Billions have cast votes across scores of countries, including some of the largest, most powerful democracies on Earth.

But America’s remains the world’s global election, the most forensically examined, the most consequential all over the world. America matters.

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Jennifer Lopez campaigns with Harris in Las Vegas – as it happened

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This blog is closed now, thanks for following along. You can find all of our US elections coverage here.

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A lot of money has been spent on this year’s elections.

Only 150 billionaire families have contributed $1.9bn in support of presidential and congressional candidates, according to a new report from Americans for Tax Fairness.

Of this giant figure 72% went to support Republicans compared with the 22% spent on Democrats.

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Political violence in US could potentially surge after elections, experts warn

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Trends in online chatter mirror patterns observed in the lead-up to 2020 elections and January 6 Capitol attack

There could be a potential surge in political violence following the upcoming US election, and pro-Trump rightwing vigilante “poll watchers” might surveil ballot drop boxes as Americans cast their votes, experts warned this week.

A new report from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) highlighted alarming trends in online chatter, mirroring patterns observed in the lead-up to the 2020 election and the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

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Final recount confirms Georgia ruling party victory, says electoral commission

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EU and US demand investigation as opposition and pro-European president cry foul

Officials in Georgia said a partial recount confirmed the ruling party had won its disputed election, while a global research and data firm called the official results reported by the electoral commission “statistically impossible”.

The pro-western opposition on Thursday repeated its earlier assertions that the parliamentary vote had been “stolen” by the ruling Georgian Dream party and it refused to recognise the results, plunging the Caucasus country into uncertainty.

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Business leaders keep quiet on Trump – what are they saying in private?

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Experts say top chief executives are treading a fine line to avoid any backlash in the event of a Trump victory

After the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, America’s business leaders came out strongly in their criticism of Donald Trump. Now – as the Harris campaign brands Trump a “fascist” and Trump threatens retribution against “the enemy within” – there appears to be a conspiracy of silence.

In fact, as the nation heads to the polls in an election that is too close to call, some of America’s most powerful chief executive appear to be cozying up to Trump again.

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North Korea missile test reaches record height and duration, says Japan

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Test of apparent ICBM theoretically capable of striking US mainland comes amid warnings over North Korean troops in Ukraine

North Korea has test launched a long-range missile theoretically capable of striking the US mainland in another display of defiance by the regime amid growing warnings over its troops’ participation in the war in Ukraine.

US officials said they believed Thursday’s launch was that of an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] but did not say how they had reached that assessment. Japan’s defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said the missile had flown higher and for longer than others tested by North Korea.

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Trump deploys garbage truck to trash Biden gaffe at Wisconsin rally

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Republican presidential candidate in high-vis vest says ‘250 million Americans are not garbage’ as he capitalises on latest twist in Puerto Rico debate

Dressing like a sanitation worker and, at one point, appearing in the cab of a garbage truck, Donald Trump sought to convince voters in battleground state Wisconsin on Wednesday that Democrats believe those who vote for him are “garbage”.

The theatrics came in response to an apparent verbal gaffe made by Joe Biden the night before, which the president said was intended to condemn a comedian over his racist remarks at a massive rally Trump staged at New York City’s Madison Square Garden over the weekend.

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Harris hails first-time and gen Z voters at Wisconsin rally: ‘I’m so proud of you’

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Artists including Remi Wolf, Gracie Abrams and Mumford & Sons join VP at rally briefly interrupted by Gaza protesters

Kamala Harris warned a crowd that time was running out at a get-out-the-vote event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, joined by a lineup of folk and pop musicians including Remi Wolf, Gracie Abrams and Mumford & Sons.

“We have six days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime,” the vice-president and Democratic nominee told the crowd, denouncing Donald Trump and issuing a dire warning about the consequences of a second Trump presidency.

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New Jersey’s largest paper ends daily print editions but will continue online

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Star-Ledger’s owner said decision was due to rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print copies

The owner of New Jersey’s largest newspaper says it will stop publishing a daily print version of the paper early next year, but its online version will continue.

The Newark Morning Ledger Co said the decision announced on Wednesday was due to rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print copies of the Star-Ledger. Two other daily New Jersey newspapers are also expected to end their print publications in the coming months, while a fourth daily newspaper, the Jersey Journal, is expected to cease publication altogether.

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Meta rides AI boom to stellar quarterly earnings, but slightly less than expected

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Company beats financial predictions but does not increase daily users as much as Wall Street thought it might

Meta’s blowout year continues after the company reported another stellar financial quarter on Wednesday. Shares fell in after-hours trading.

Wall Street analysts had high expectations for the Instagram and WhatsApp parent company, projecting an 18% jump in sales year over year. The company reported $40.6bn in sales, a 19% increase year over year that outpaced investor expectations of $40.19bn. Meta, which saw a 25% jump in its share price over the past two months, reported $6.03 in earnings per share (EPS), surpassing Wall Street’s expectations of an EPS of $5.29.

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North Korean troops in Russian uniforms heading to Kursk, says US

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Lloyd Austin says deployment near Ukraine border is a dangerous and destabilising development

North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Russian region of Kursk, near Ukraine, according to the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, who described the deployment as a dangerous and destabilising development.

Austin was speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon with the South Korean defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, as concerns grow about Pyongyang’s deployment of as many as 11,000 troops to Russia. The US and South Korea said some of the North Korean troops are heading to Kursk, on the border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.

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US identified 500 cases where its weapons harmed Gaza civilians but hasn’t taken action

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Some the incidents might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources

US state department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel’s military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, according to three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter.

The incidents – some of which may have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources – have been recorded since 7 October 2023, when the Gaza war started. They are being collected by the state department’s Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG), a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.

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Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments gaffe hastens Harris’s slow-mo breakup with president

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Harris faces conundrum of showing deference to president while distancing herself after his ‘garbage’ comments

The delicate dance by Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign to simultaneously show deference to Joe Biden, separate herself from his presidency and thwart his ambition to campaign for her has reached a critical juncture as the 2024 election approaches its climax.

The steps of the dance, which has been ongoing since Harris assumed the Democratic party nomination in August and involves efforts to shield the 81-year-old president’s ego and feelings, became even more leaden overnight on Tuesday after Biden appeared to call supporters of Donald Trump “garbage”.

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Five charged in Texas over alleged $1m ring to certify unqualified teachers

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Prosecutors say impersonators took tests on behalf of applicants, and testing proctor was allegedly bribed

Five people in Texas have been charged in connection with an alleged fraudulent teacher certification scheme, which prosecutors say was used to improperly certify hundreds of unqualified teachers to work in local school districts throughout the state.

At a press conference on Monday led by the Harris county district attorney, Kim Ogg, prosecutors said the alleged scheme generated at least a million dollars and was used to certify more than 200 unqualified teachers who are currently or have previously worked in Texas public schools.

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Some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict, report says

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Mississippi’s firearm-related violence rate nearly double that of Haiti, which is plagued by political and gang strife

A new report by the Commonwealth Fund finds some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict, and even states with the fewest firearms deaths are far higher than peer developed democracies.

For instance, Mississippi’s rate of firearm-related violence (28.5 per 100,000 people) was nearly double that of Haiti (15.1 per 100,000) in 2021, when mercenaries assassinated the country’s president, unleashing a fresh round of gang warfare which pushed the country into a state of civil war.

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Hundreds of damaged ballots saved following fire at drop box in Washington

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FBI is investigating and workers are contacting voters about new ballots after incendiary devices were put in drop box

Officials in south-west Washington were able to salvage almost 500 damaged ballots from a ballot box that was set on fire on Monday in what officials have called an attack on democracy ahead of a contentious US election.

An unknown number of ballots were destroyed when someone placed incendiary devices in a drop box in Vancouver, Washington, while three ballots were damaged in a fire at a box in nearby Portland, Oregon. Those fires and one other are linked, officials have said.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Kamala Harris: ‘I will always be an American before I am a Republican’

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The former Republican governor said that he was backing the Democrat because a Trump victory would mean ‘four more years of bullshit’

The former Republican governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he is backing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in next week’s election.

In a long post on X, Schwarzenegger, 77, said that while he doesn’t “really do endorsements” … “hate[s] politics” and doesn’t “trust most politicians”, he felt compelled to formally endorse Harris and her pick for vice president Tim Walz.

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Biden says he meant to condemn comedian, not Trump supporters, in ‘garbage’ comments

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Edited video clip of president’s remarks suggests he insulted Trump backers, but his wording is unclear

Joe Biden put out a statement that he had “meant to say” earlier on Tuesday that a pro-Trump comedian’s “hateful rhetoric” about Puerto Rico was “garbage”. But in an edited video clip already widely circulating on social media Tuesday evening, a phrase that came out of Biden’s mouth was “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters”.

Republican politicians and rightwing media outlets quickly picked up the clip to argue that Biden had called Trump’s supporters garbage, comparing his remarks with Hillary Clinton’s labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in “a basket of deplorables” in 2016, a comment that is widely seen as undermining her campaign.

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Trump claims ‘nobody loves Puerto Rican community more than I do’ at Pennsylvania rally

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Ex-president’s comments come after comedian at one of Trump’s recent rallies called Puerto Rico ‘island of garbage’

Donald Trump praised Puerto Ricans on Tuesday during a Pennsylvania rally, days after a comedian made a racist joke and referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” at one of his rallies.

“Nobody loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rican community more than I do,” the former president said a little over an hour into a rally in Allentown, in the Lehigh Valley, which has a sizable Latino population.

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