Category Archives: US News

Kamala Harris will win election, predicts leading historian Allan Lichtman

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Polling ‘Nostradamus’, said to have correctly forecast since 1984 all races except Gore’s loss, says Trump on track to lose

Allan Lichtman, the historian dubbed the “Nostradamus” of US presidential elections, has predicted that Kamala Harris will win the White House in November’s poll.

Having previously warned the Democrats of the dangers of removing Joe Biden from the ticket, Lichtman nevertheless forecast that the vice-president, who became the party’s nominee after the president withdrew in July, would be elected in a video for the New York Times.

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Retired New Orleans priest accused of child rape found competent – but trial could be delayed

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Lawrence Hecker, 92 and diagnosed with dementia, will be evaluated again to see if he is capable of defending himself

A court-ordered psychiatrist evaluated self-acknowledged child molester and retired priest Lawrence Hecker for a third time on Thursday, declaring him “fragilely competent” to stand trial on rape and kidnapping charges.

New Orleans criminal court judge Benedict Willard stopped short of declaring Hecker competent to stand trial and assist in his own defense but kept a 24 September trial date in place.

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UK signs first international treaty to implement AI safeguards

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Also signed by the EU, US and Israel, the declaration aims to mitigate the threats that AI may pose to human rights, democracy and the rule of law

The UK government has signed the first international treaty on artificial intelligence in a move that aims to prevent misuses of the technology, such as spreading misinformation or using biased data to make decisions.

Under the legally binding agreement, states must implement safeguards against any threats posed by AI to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The treaty, called the framework convention on artificial intelligence, was drawn up by the Council of Europe, an international human rights organisation, and was signed on Thursday by the EU, UK, US and Israel.

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US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

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Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson addressed allegations that a company they were associated with had been paid to publish videos with messages in favour of Russia

A number of high-profile, conservative influencers in the US have said they are “victims” of an alleged Russian disinformation campaign, after the Biden administration accused Moscow of carrying out a sustained campaign to influence the outcome of November’s presidential elections.

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson published statements on Wednesday evening addressing allegations that a US content creation company they were associated with had been provided with nearly $10m from Russian state media employees to publish videos with messages in favour of Moscow’s interests and agenda, including over the war in Ukraine.

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Trump lobs same insults at Harris and Walz in Pennsylvania town hall

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Ex-president repeats false claims to Sean Hannity of asylum seekers and crime and says: ‘We’re going to heal our world’

Donald Trump lobbed his usual insults and accusations at Kamala Harris and Tim Walz during a town hall aired on Fox News and then falsely claimed that migrants from around the world are pouring into the US.

The pre-taped interview aired Wednesday evening. The former president walked onto the stage in a Pennsylvania arena to cheers, applause and chants of “USA” from his supporters.

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Liz Cheney, ex-Republican Wyoming representative, endorses Kamala Harris

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Daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney is the latest GOP member to publicly renounce ex-president

Liz Cheney, the Republican former representative of Wyoming, has endorsed Kamala Harris for president. The former legislator made the pronouncement on Tuesday at an event at Duke university in North Carolina. This move makes her the latest Republican to publicly say that they will not be supporting Donald Trump.

“I don’t believe we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” Cheney, daughter of former Republican vice-president Dick Cheney, told the crowd. “And as a conservative, as somebody who believes in and cares about the constitution, I have thought deeply about this and the present danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, I am voting for Kamala Harris.”

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Harris and Trump accept debate rules, including allowing mics to be muted

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Campaigns had clashed over whether candidates should be audible while opponent is speaking

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have accepted the rules for the presidential debate in Philadelphia, due to air on ABC next week, the network said on Wednesday – including muted mics when the other candidate is speaking.

ABC News said in a release that Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Trump, her Republican rival, “have qualified for the debate under the established criteria, and both have accepted the following debate rules”.

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US arms advantage over Russia and China threatens stability, experts warn

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Academics say vulnerability of the two countries’ nuclear launch sites makes dangerous mistakes more likely

The US and its allies are capable of threatening and destroying all of Russia and China’s nuclear launch sites with conventional weapons, creating what two experts describe as a potentially unstable geopolitical situation.

Prof Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo, from Soas University of London, describe a “quiet revolution in military affairs” reflecting increased US military power relative to Moscow and Beijing, particularly in missile technology.

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Trump appears in town hall hosted by Sean Hannity – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Here is our full story on US conservative influencers saying they are ‘victims’ of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Half of gen-Z voters said they will vote for Kamala Harris in November, according to a new NBC News poll published today.

The poll shows one-third of gen-Z voters said they plan to vote for Donald Trump, and 1 in 10 said they do not plan to vote in the presidential election.

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Boy, 11, charged with murder in deaths of former Louisiana mayor and his daughter

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Joe Cornelius Sr, 82, and Keisha Miles, 31, were found dead with multiple gunshot wounds on Sunday

An 11-year-old boy has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the fatal shootings of a former Louisiana mayor and his daughter.

In a press conference on Tuesday, police chief Jared McIver of Minden, a small town in north-west Louisiana, said that at about 6.30am on Sunday police responded to reports of a shooting inside a house on Austin Street, according to local reports.

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Georgia high school shooting: student charged with murder after four people killed in Apalachee

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Authorities say suspect, 14, also wounded nine others, with FBI later saying they had investigated him and his father a year ago

Two students and two teachers were killed at a Georgia high school on Wednesday in a mass shooting authorities say was committed by a 14-year-old male student at the school.

At least nine others were taken to the hospital following the incident at Apalachee high school in Winder, about 50 miles north-east of Atlanta.

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California man charged with murdering two neighbors in nudist community

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Michael Royce Sparks was arrested last week after he was found under a home at Olive Dell Ranch

A southern California man has been charged with the murder of two of his neighbors in a local nudist community.

Michael Royce Sparks, 62, was charged on Tuesday with two counts of murder with special circumstances in the deaths of Stephanie Menard, 73, and her husband, Daniel, 79, court records show.

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Trump-backed Senate candidate caught on tape disparaging Native Americans

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Tim Sheehy, locked in tight race with incumbent Democrat John Tester, repeatedly referred to Crow tribe at fundraisers

A Republican candidate in a race that could decide control of the US Senate made disparaging comments about Native Americans at campaign fundraising events, according to recordings disclosed in local media.

Tim Sheehy, a wealthy cattle rancher who has been endorsed by Donald Trump in his bid to become senator for Montana, made the remarks repeatedly at a series of gatherings where he boasted of cultivating ties and bonding with members of the Crow Reservation, the official home of the Indigenous Crow tribe.

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US man died because doctor removed wrong organ in procedure, family says

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Family of William Bryan alleges Dr Thomas Shaknovsky removed liver instead of spleen during surgical procedure

The family of a 70-year-old man from Alabama who died last month say that his death was a result of a doctor removing the wrong organ during a surgical procedure in Florida.

William Bryan, 70, and his wife Beverly were visiting their rental property in Okaloosa county this summer when Bryan suddenly began experiencing left-sided flank pain, according to law firm representing his wife, Beverly. Bryan then went to hospital, and was admitted for further studies pursuant to concern for an abnormality of the spleen.

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Ex-aide to New York governors charged with being agent of Chinese government

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Linda Sun, Kathy Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, arrested for ‘furthering’ Chinese interests, attorney says

A former New York state government official who worked for the former governor Andrew Cuomo and current governor, Kathy Hochul, was charged on Tuesday with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors revealed in a sprawling indictment.

Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government before rising to the rank of deputy chief of staff for Hochul, was arrested on Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $3.5m home on Long Island.

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Dementia diagnosis could delay trial of New Orleans priest accused of rape

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Attorneys for Lawrence Hecker, charged with raping teen in 1975, urge judge to declare him incompetent to stand trial

Retired Catholic priest and self-acknowledged child molester Lawrence Hecker’s trial on rape and kidnapping charges – scheduled for 24 September – could be significantly delayed yet again after a medical report on the 92-year-old’s mental health has been filed in court.

A court-ordered psychiatric evaluation diagnosed Hecker with dementia, saying he has “good days and bad days”, according to a statement from his defense team. Defense attorneys Matthew McLaren and Eugene Redmann issued a statement Tuesday urging judge Benedict Willard to declare Hecker incompetent to stand trial.

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Trump claims ‘no conflict’ during Arlington national cemetery visit – as it happened

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This blog is closed. You can find the latest US politics and election coverage here.

Kamala Harris is expected to announce new proposals meant to boost small businesses and entrepreneurs ahead of a campaign speech on Wednesday in New Hampshire, according to a report.

With days until her first debate with Donald Trump, Harris is aiming to draw a contrast with her Republican opponent’s calls for a lower corporate tax rate, the Washington Post reported, citing sources.

This is a stark choice in front of us, and I’m confident that as voters start to get more engaged in this upcoming election, that they’ll see Kamala Harris’s agenda is about making their lives better, and Donald Trump’s about making Donald Trump’s life better.

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Federal judge rejects Trump’s request to intervene in hush-money criminal case

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Alvin Hellerstein ruled ex-president didn’t have burden of proof in latest attempt to overturn his felony conviction

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush-money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing.

US district judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Trump had not satisfied the burden of proof required for a federal court to take control of the case from the state court where it was tried.

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New Titanic expedition finds lost bronze ‘Diana of Versailles’ statue

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First salvage expedition in years captures more than 2m high-resolution images of 1912 shipwreck

A bronze statue from the Titanic – not seen in decades and feared to be lost for good – is among the discoveries made by the company with salvage rights to the wreck site on its first expedition there in many years.

RMS Titanic Inc, a Georgia-based company that holds the legal rights to the 112-year-old wreck, has completed its first trip since 2010 and released images from the expedition on Monday. The pictures show a site that continues to change more than a century later.

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John McCain’s son says he will vote Democrat as he slams Trump Arlington visit

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Jimmy McCain, a national guard lieutenant, says he can’t ‘overlook’ Trump’s criticism of his late father

The son of the late Republican senator John McCain – whose war record was disparaged by Donald Trump – has added his voice to criticism of the former president’s controversial Arlington cemetery visit, accusing him of violating a sacred burial site for political purposes.

First Lieutenant Jimmy McCain, an intelligence officer in the 158th infantry regiment of the national guard, said Trump’s behaviour at the cemetery – America’s most revered burial ground for fallen military personnel and military heroes – was in line with previous acts of disrespect.

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