Category Archives: US News

Those who try to emulate Teflon Trump often come unstuck – just ask Gaetz

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The fall of the Florida congressman who was accused of sexual misconduct proves there is one rule for Trump and another for everyone else

When he ran for US president in 2016, Donald Trump boasted that he would “surround myself only with the best and most serious people”, adding: “We want top-of-the-line professionals.”

Second time around, Trump appears to have quality control issues. On Thursday Matt Gaetz, his pick to be attorney general, withdrew from consideration amid allegations including sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl, drug use and misappropriating campaign funds.

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Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general

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Gaetz’s withdrawal comes amid intense scrutiny of allegations of sexual misconduct against cabinet nominee

Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman, withdrew from consideration to serve as Donald Trump’s attorney general on Thursday, amid intense scrutiny of allegations of sexual misconduct, ending the brief nomination of one of Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks.

After meeting with senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Gaetz determined that his nomination was “becoming a distraction to the critical work” of the new Trump administration, he explained on X.

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How Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz unravelled in just eight days

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In a Washington farce for the ages, the far-right Republican has withdrawn from consideration for US attorney general – how did it happen?

Donald Trump decided to nominate Matt Gaetz as attorney general last Wednesday, during a flight home from Washington, where the president-elect had visited Joe Biden at the White House. The pick proved as surprising as it was controversial. Just eight days later, after a week of relentless hullabaloo, Gaetz withdrew from contention.

It was a Washington farce for the ages. But how did it happen?

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US moves to list giraffes under Endangered Species Act for first time

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Climate crisis, habitat loss and poaching have reduced its numbers – but will Trump put the kibosh on protections?

They are the tallest animal to roam the Earth and have become an icon of children’s books, toys and awed wildlife documentaries. But giraffes are in decline, which has prompted the US government to list them as endangered for the first time.

Giraffes will be listed under the US Endangered Species Act, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed in a move that will cover five subspecies of the animal. The agency hopes the listing will crack down on the poaching of giraffes, as the US is a leading destination of rugs, pillowcases, boots, furniture and even Bible covers made from giraffe body parts.

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The Apprentice actor Sebastian Stan says Hollywood stars are ‘afraid’ of Trump

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None of his peers would appear with him on a chatshow the actor claimed, setting an ominous precedent for the industry’s interactions with Trump after he comes into power

Sebastian Stan, who stars in The Apprentice, a biopic of Donald Trump focusing on his association in the 1970s with lawyer Roy Cohn, has said that other actors in Hollywood are too “afraid” of the president-elect to participate in press with him.

Stan claimed that he had failed to find a single peer who would appear opposite him in the Actors on Actors series run by industry magazine Variety, in which key awards contenders quiz each other.

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Revealed: McKinsey clients had ‘rising share of global emissions’, internal analysis shows

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Consulting giant had said it engages with clients to help them transition to cleaner energy even as it knew they were in line to exceed climate targets

The world’s biggest consulting firm found that its clients were on a trajectory to bust global climate targets, details of internal forecasting in 2021 uncovered by the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) and the Guardian reveal.

McKinsey & Company has worked with some of the world’s biggest emitters, including many of the largest fossil fuel producers. It has previously argued it is necessary to engage these clients to help them transition to cleaner forms of energy and hit the target of limiting global warming to less than 1.5C above preindustrial levels.

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Google must sell Chrome to end search monopoly, says US justice department

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Court filing comes after landmark ruling in August and judge will consider arguments from both sides next year

The US Department of Justice has proposed a far-reaching overhaul of Google’s structure and business practices, including the sale of its Chrome browser, in a bid to end its monopoly on internet search.

The DoJ proposals follow a landmark court ruling in August in which a federal judge ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly over search services.

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Why Trump’s racism isn’t an issue – or enough of one – for some voters of color

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Experts warn assuming minority groups will reject a racist candidate ignores nuance, particularly on the economy

Since Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election, many have publicly speculated why people of color – with whom Trump made some gains – would vote for a racist candidate. Throughout his campaign, Trump and his supporters spouted a series of racist remarks aimed at Black and Latino people, immigrants at large and other marginalized groups. He also promised to utilize the military to carry out mass deportations, ban sanctuary cities, and escalate attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts at the federal level.

Swaths of non-white voters still supported Trump at the ballot box. And though this sort of data can vary in reliability, experts agree that Trump made inroads among some minorities despite his bigoted comments.

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First Thing: House ethics committee deadlocked on whether to release Matt Gaetz report

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Panel met but failed to reach decision on releasing report. Plus, Senate rejects Bernie Sanders’ efforts to block arms sales to Israel

Good morning.

The House ethics committee was deadlocked on releasing a report examining allegations of sexual misconduct against Matt Gaetz, the former Republican representative and Donald Trump’s choice to lead the justice department, after the panel met behind closed doors on Wednesday.

How did the committee split? Susan Wild, the top Democratic representative on the ethics committee, said the committee, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, broke along party lines and could not reach a decision.

How many children in Gaza need support? According to the UN children’s aid agency, Unicef, there are an estimated 2,500 children in Gaza in urgent need of medical treatment they cannot receive in the territory, where most health infrastructure has been destroyed over the past 14 months of war. It said children were being evacuated from Gaza at a rate of fewer than one a day.

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Billionaire Gautam Adani charged in US over alleged $250m bribery plot

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Indian chair of Adani Group, worth about $85bn, accused of agreeing to pay bribes to obtain solar energy contracts

Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men, has been indicted in New York over an alleged multibillion-dollar scheme to pay $250m in bribes and conceal it from US investors.

Prosecutors charged the chair of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group and two other executives of a renewable energy company with securities fraud and conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud.

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Melbourne teen Bianca Jones dies in hospital after methanol poisoning in Laos

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A New Zealand citizen is also ill, while a US citizen has died following a suspected mass poisoning event in the town of Vang Vieng

Melbourne teen Bianca Jones has died from methanol poisoning in a Thai hospital, a week after the Melbourne teen and her best friend fell ill while travelling in neighbouring Laos.

Anthony Albanese confirmed the 19-year-old’s death on Thursday, after her parents travelled to Thailand to be with her.

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Percival Everett wins National Book Award for fiction with retelling of Huckleberry Finn

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Everett’s novel, James, which focuses on Twain's enslaved character Jim, won the $10,000 prize

Percival Everett has won the $10,000 National Book Award for fiction, one of the US’s most prestigious literary prizes, for James, his acclaimed reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The 67-year-old author was also shortlisted for this year’s Booker prize for James, which focuses on Huckleberry Finn’s enslaved character Jim. The Guardian’s Anthony Cummins called the book “gripping, painful, funny, horrifying” in his review.

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‘Resurgence’ in China aid to Pacific amid tussle with US for influence

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Thinktank’s report says Beijing has emerged from Covid-induced lull with a ‘more competitive, politically targeted model’ of engagement in the region

China has renewed efforts to curry favour in Pacific island nations, a new report has found, after charting a “resurgence” in Beijing-backed aid and infrastructure funding.

Over the past decade, China has lavished billions of dollars on Pacific island nations, part of ongoing efforts to build influence in competition with the US and its allies.

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Trans congresswoman Sarah McBride responds to Capitol Hill bathroom ban

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Following statement from Mike Johnson, McBride says: ‘I’m not here to fight about bathrooms, I’m here to … bring down costs facing families’

Sarah McBride, the incoming congresswoman and first openly transgender person elected to the US House of Representatives, on Wednesday shared a statement on social media in response to the House banning trans people from using single-sex bathrooms on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity.

Earlier in the day, the House speaker, Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson, issued a statement “regarding facilities throughout the US Capitol complex”.

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Outcry over stalemate on Gaetz report; Trump reportedly considering Martin Makary for FDA – US politics live

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Democrat Susan Wild says committee chair Michael Guest mischaracterized meeting and committee will reconvene in December; Markary opposed Covid vaccine mandates

The Federal Reserve must not remove Wells Fargo’s $1.95tn asset cap until the bank has fixed its risk management and compliance issues, top Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren told the US central bank on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

In a letter to Fed chair, Jerome Powell, and the central bank’s regulatory chief, Michael Barr, Warren said the Fed must reject Wells Fargo reported appeal to have the punishment imposed in 2018 lifted until it “can show that it can properly manage the risks associated with running a large bank”.

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Coachella 2025 lineup: Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott to headline in April

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Other acts include Charli xcx, Megan Thee Stallion, Missy Elliott, Shaboozey and Blackpink members Jennie and Lisa

Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott will headline Coachella 2025.

Scott, whose prominent billing comes with the description “designs the desert”, will reportedly design an immersive experience called CatcusCon, Rolling Stone reported, and will perform after Green Day’s set on the Saturday nights.

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Tennessee man involved in Capitol riot convicted of planning to kill federal agents

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Edward Kelley created ‘kill list’ of FBI agents and others who investigated his role on January 6, prosecutors say

A Tennessee man who was arrested for his involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021 was convicted on Wednesday of planning to kill federal investigators.

Edward Kelley, 35, was found guilty in Knoxville of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, and influencing a federal official by threat, the US attorney’s office said in a news release.

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House ethics committee deadlocked on whether to release Matt Gaetz report

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Panel met on Wednesday but didn’t reach a decision on releasing the report on Trump’s controversial AG pick

The House ethics committee deadlocked on releasing a report examining allegations of sexual misconduct against Matt Gaetz, the former Republican representative and Donald Trump’s choice to lead the US justice department, after the panel met behind closed doors on Wednesday.

Emerging from the meeting after roughly two hours, most members of the panel declined to offer details on their discussion, but the Republican chair, Michael Guest, told reporters that there was “not an agreement by the committee to release the report”.

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Biden urged to use clemency powers to tackle ‘crisis’ of US mass incarceration

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Members of Congress call on president to pardon or commute sentences before he leaves White House

More than 60 members of Congress have written to Joe Biden calling on him to use his presidential clemency powers to reunite families, address unfair sentencing policies, and begin to tackle the scourge of mass incarceration, which they said was eroding “the soul of America”.

Biden has 61 days left before he leaves the White House in which he could pardon or commute the sentences of incarcerated Americans. The letter, signed by a number of prominent Democratic politicians and spearheaded by the progressive politician Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, urges Biden to act while he still can.

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Thousands eager to escape Trump keen to snap up €1 Sardinian home, says mayor

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American applications would be fast-tracked although scheme is open to other nationalities, says mayor of Ollolai

The mayor of a small town in Sardinia has said thousands of Americans keen to escape Donald Trump have expressed an interest in moving there after he offered homes to them for as little as €1.

Francesco Columbu, the mayor of Ollolai, has staged similarly enticing initiatives in the past as a way to combat depopulation. He released more homes for sale after sensing he was on to a winner when Trump clinched a second term as US president in elections earlier this month.

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