Category Archives: US News

‘Biden can’t do it’: European politicians shocked by US president’s debate flop

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Some call for rethink by Democrats and say continent must step up preparations for another Trump term

European politicians, already drowning in multiple crises of their own, were left shell-shocked and aghast at Joe Biden’s meandering performance in Thursday’s presidential debate, aware that a second Trump term had drawn that much nearer – with all that this implies for the rise of populism in the continent, the future of Nato, and for Ukraine and the Middle East.

The voices of despair came from across the mainstream political spectrum, interspersed with the odd call for Europe to prepare even more intensively for a Trump second coming.

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‘10 minutes to destroy a presidency’: how US and global media reviewed the Biden-Trump debate

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Headlines echoed Democrats’ anxiety that Biden is too cognitively weak and physically frail for another term

US voters woke up to post-debate reviews of the first Biden-Trump debate with headlines that echoed Democrats’ anxiety that the incumbent president is too cognitively weak and physically frail to sustain another five months of political campaigning or another term in office.

Those anxieties, multiple outlets reported, were being reflected in pressure from Democratic donors and former Democratic officials who are now openly talking about replacing Biden with an alternative presidential candidate at the party’s convention in Chicago in August.

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Lightning strike in Utah sends seven members of youth group to hospital

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About 50 members of the group felt the lightning strike as they were hiking, but none sustained life-threatening injuries

Seven members of a youth group hiking in Utah were transported to hospitals on Thursday after lightning struck the ground near them.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints youth group from Salina, Utah, were in the eastern part of Sevier county at about 1.45pm when a light rain began and the lightning hit, the Sevier county sheriff, Nathan Curtis, said in a statement.

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Michael Jackson was more than $500m in debt when he died in 2009

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Court filing details how the King of Pop was in financial straits as he was preparing to embark on his This Is It tour

Michael Jackson had accumulated more than half a billion dollars of debt when he died in 2009, new court documents reveal.

A 21 June court filing by the executors of his estate provided some of the most complete details yet about the strained finances with which the 13-time Grammy winner was grappling at the time of his death.

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Biden struggles against Trump’s lies in first debate | First Thing

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Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in the first presidential debate has Democrats scrambling. Plus: the 82-year-old ‘Sword Granny’ of India

Good morning.

Joe Biden’s lackluster performance in the first presidential debate of the fight for the White House sent senior Democratic advisers and operatives into panic mode. Donald Trump repeatedly made false claims about January 6, the national debt and the economy while Biden mumbled and struggled to rebut Trump’s lies, which will only have reinforced a perception among many voters that he is too old for the job.

Some are raising questions over whether there could be a contested Democratic convention and how Biden might be replaced as the Democratic candidate for the election. The only option would be for Biden to agree to step aside and allow the delegates he won in the primaries to choose someone else – with some big names already being floated as possible options.

“Trump did not win the debate but Biden certainly lost it.” David Smith writes that Biden lived down to expectations that were at rock bottom and somehow made Trump sound almost coherent.

What were some of Trump’s lies? Moderators for CNN’s debate took a hands-off approach, letting lies and half-truths remain unchallenged. Trump spouted lies on abortion, the environment, the border, tax cuts and January 6.

Who won the meme wars? Both contenders delivered soundbites, with Trump declaring that during his presidency “everything was rockin’ good”, and Biden hitting back at Trump’s felony convictions, saying the former president “has the morals of an alleycat”.

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Michigan leading US on monitoring and studying bird flu outbreak

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Daily text messages and phone calls check on farm workers who work with cows that have tested positive for H5N1

As questions swirl about the spread of bird flu among livestock and people, one US state – Michigan – has taken the lead on monitoring and studying the outbreak.

Other states have seemed wary of tracking cases among animals and people, but Michigan has taken a proactive approach, with daily text messages and phone calls to check on farm workers who work with cows that have tested positive for H5N1. They also have offered free tests if symptoms develop.

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Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes could sell for £120,000 at auction

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Singer wore footwear on and off stage during 1950s before giving them to a friend when called up to US army

Well it’s one for the money … a lot of money actually.

The blue suede shoes worn by Elvis Presley during the early part of his career are expected to fetch £120,000 at auction on Friday.

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Iran goes to polls to elect new president after Raisi killed in helicopter crash

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Millions expected to boycott election as they believe regime will manipulate result to ensure loyalist victory

More than 61.5 million Iranians aged over 18 have been given a chance to vote for a new president and send a message to the regime about the state of the economy, although millions were expected to boycott an election they believe will be manipulated by the regime to ensure a loyalist victory.

Iran’s leaders want to renew their legitimacy after a steady decline in turnout reached crisis point last year with fewer than 41% voting in parliamentary elections, and fewer than 10% in the capital, Tehran.

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US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran over apparent nuclear escalations

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Blinken says Tehran has expanded uranium enrichment project ‘in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose’

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has announced fresh sanctions against Iran’s petroleum sector in response to what he described as an expansion of the country’s nuclear programme which has provoked renewed fears that it is preparing to build an atomic bomb.

The embargoes – on three unnamed entities involved in the transport of Iranian petroleum or petrochemical products – were announced amid a chorus of warnings of a renewed conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran’s proxy Hezbollah, the powerful Shia group that dominates Lebanon.

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Sinkhole appears in soccer field above an Illinois mine: ‘out of a movie’

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No one was present when the sinkhole, 100ft wide and 30ft deep, suddenly collapsed the field

A vast sinkhole has dramatically appeared in middle of an Illinois soccer pitch that was laid above a limestone mine, just days after amateur teams stopped using the grounds for practice.

The collapse happened at Gordon Moore Park in Alton, Illinois, about 18 miles north of St Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday. The sinkhole appeared to be 100ft (30m) wide and 30ft (9m) deep. No injuries have been reported but all sports have been cancelled.

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Baltimore police employees face punishment over 2023 mass shooting response

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Report decries eight officers and four civilian employees for ignoring warnings resulting in fatal shooting

Two Baltimore police department employees could lose their jobs and another 10 could face lesser disciplinary actions for their responses to a July 2023 mass shooting at a neighborhood block party.

Two people died and 28 others were injured when gunshots tore through a large crowd in the courtyard of south Baltimore’s Brooklyn Homes public housing complex as the annual Brooklyn Day summertime celebration continued after nightfall. Most of the victims were teenagers and young adults.

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Wind-driven wildfire spreads near popular Oregon vacation spot

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Officials urged the continued evacuations of hundreds of homes in the area as stronger winds were forecasted

A wildfire near a popular vacation destination in Oregon’s high desert has been spreading rapidly since erupting on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of families out of heir homes and businesses.

The fire exploded near the popular vacation destination of Bend in central Oregon, an area known for its microbreweries, hiking, river rafting and skiing on nearby Mount Bachelor.

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RFK Jr claims Republicans, Democrats and CNN conspired to exclude him from debate

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Independent candidate is polling at about 8%, but could be a spoiler in November contest between Trump and Biden

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the independent US presidential candidate polling at about 8%, won’t be at tonight’s Biden-Trump TV smackdown in Atlanta. But he’s not taking the diss quietly, and has accused debate host CNN of colluding with the major party campaigns to exclude him.

In an email statement on Wednesday, the Kennedy campaign claimed that 71% of Americans want to see him on the debate stage, and in an act of counter-programming he plans an alternative “real” debate on Elon’s Musk’s Twitter/X platform at the same time.

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Boeing blasted by US regulator for revealing panel blowout details to media

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NTSB sanctions plane maker for ‘blatantly’ breaching rules as it investigates January Alaska Airlines incident

Boeing has been sanctioned by the top US accident investigator for having “blatantly violated” regulations by revealing private information to the media and speculating about what caused January’s cabin panel blowout on a brand-new airplane operated by Alaska Airlines.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it is cooperating with the Department of Justice, which is deciding whether to prosecute Boeing after declaring it had breached a settlement over two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

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Black Alabama mayor reinstated after nearly four-year battle

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A secret election by white town council blocked Newbern mayor Patrick Braxton from serving for four years: ‘we can put this behind us’

Patrick Braxton, the first Black mayor of an Alabama town that has not held elections in several decades, has spent the last four years fighting to be recognized. Finally, after an extensive legal battle, he and the town officials who refused to acknowledge him as mayor have reached a settlement, according to federal court documents.

Per the settlement agreement, Braxton will be officially be seated as the mayor of Newbern, Alabama, and be able to fully serve in this capacity for the first time in nearly four years, pending approval by by Judge Kristi K. DuBose of the Southern District of Alabama.

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US Congress faces growing calls to withdraw Netanyahu invitation: ‘a terrible mistake’

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Notable Israelis add their voices to oppose invite extended by Mike Johnson, which Democrats plan to boycott

A group of prominent Israelis – including a former prime minister and an ex-head of Mossad, the foreign intelligence service – have added their voices to the growing domestic calls in the US for Congress to withdraw its invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu to address it next month, calling the move “a terrible mistake”.

The plea, in an op-ed article in the New York Times, argues that the invitation rewards Netanyahu, Israel’s current prime minister, for “scandalous and destructive conduct”, including intelligence failures that led to last October’s deadly Hamas attack and the ensuing bloody war in Gaza which shows no sign of ending.

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California dad who drove family off cliff sentenced to mental health care instead of trial

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Judge rules Dharmesh Patel, whose car dove off cliff in 2023, will be monitored by GPS and check in with court weekly

A California radiologist accused of trying to kill his family by driving off a cliff along the northern California coast will receive mental health treatment instead of standing trial, a judge ruled.

Prosecutors charged Dharmesh A Patel, 43, with attempted murder after the Tesla he was driving plunged off a 250ft (76 meters) cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway in San Mateo county, injuring his wife and two young children. All four survived the 2 January 2023 crash in what one official called an “absolute miracle”.

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Jury recommends death penalty for man who killed five women in Florida bank

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Judge to decide fate of ex-prison guard trainee Zephen Xaver, who pleaded guilty to 2019 execution-style murders

A jury on Wednesday recommended a former prison guard trainee be sentenced to death for his execution-style murders of five women inside a Florida bank five years ago.

Jurors voted 9-3 to recommend Zephen Xaver, 27, receive the death penalty for the 23 January 2019 murders at the SunTrust Bank in Sebring, about 85 miles (135km) south-east of Tampa.

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General Motors names new CEO of troubled self-driving subsidiary Cruise

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Robotaxi service recovering from gruesome collision with pedestrian that triggered suspension of California license

General Motors on Tuesday named a veteran technology executive with roots in the video game industry to steer its troubled robotaxi service Cruise as it tries to recover from a gruesome collision that triggered the suspension of its California license and the removal of all its robotaxis from the state’s roads.

Marc Whitten, one of the key engineers behind the Xbox video game console, will take over as Cruise’s chief executive nearly nine months after one of the service’s robotaxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian – who had just been struck by a vehicle driven by a human – across a darkened street in San Francisco before coming to a stop.

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Five charged over alleged plot to bribe Minnesota juror with $120,000 in cash

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Prosecutors say scheme – ‘like something out of a mob movie’ – was hatched to stop conviction in Covid fraud case

Five people have been charged with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest Covid-related fraud cases, the US attorney’s office and the FBI announced on Wednesday.

Court documents made public reveal an extravagant scheme in which the accused researched the juror’s personal information on social media, surveilled her, tracked her daily habits and bought a GPS device to install on her car. Authorities believe the defendants targeted the woman, known as juror 52, because she was the youngest and they believed her to be the only person of color on the panel.

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