Category Archives: US News

Escaped prisoner serving murder sentence caught at North Carolina hotel

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Ramone Alston will be charged with felony escape from prison after fleeing from van on way to hospital

A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder was captured at a North Carolina hotel early on Friday, three days after his escape on the way to a medical appointment, and authorities say he had help from at least one person.

Ramone Alston, 30, escaped from a van on Tuesday as it arrived at the UNC Gastroenterology hospital in Hillsborough, where he was being taken for a medical appointment. He freed himself from his leg restraints and fled into the woods with handcuffs on, according to the North Carolina department of adult correction.

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Trump reportedly considers endorsing expanded child tax credit after Harris unveils economic plan – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Harris’s economic plan, read our full report:

Joe Biden is expected to jump on the phone later today with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt amid a glimmer of progress towards a deal for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, including the return of remaining hostages, according to a report.

An Axios reporter has posted about this, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.

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Missouri woman charged in scheme to steal Graceland and extort Presley heirs

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Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, arrested for falsely claiming Elvis Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8m from a bogus lender

A Missouri woman has been arrested on charges that she orchestrated a scheme to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property, before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale, the US justice department said on Friday.

Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, of Kimberling City, Missouri, falsely claimed Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8m from a bogus private lender and pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan. She fabricated loan documents, tried to extort Presley’s family out of $2.85m to settle the matter, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing that Graceland would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, prosecutors said.

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Matthew Perry allegedly took several doses of ketamine on day of his death

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Friends star asked his assistant to inject him with drug several times on day he died, court papers say

The Friends star Matthew Perry ordered his live-in personal assistant to give him several intravenous doses of ketamine on the day of his death last year, according to a statement by the assistant to investigators.

The actor, who was found drowned in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home last October, asked his assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, to give him a dose at 8.30am, according to court papers.

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Atlanta election workers to get ‘panic buttons’ amid rising threats

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Cobb county officials approved the devices as safety concerns for poll workers have mounted since 2020

A key swing county in suburban Atlanta approved nearly $50,000 this week to purchase “panic buttons” for election workers, a move that comes as those who administer elections have faced increased threats and harassments.

Commissioners in Cobb county approved the purchase of about 200 of the devices, which are about the size of a credit card, according to NBC News, which first reported on the purchase.

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‘Strange and mysterious’: rarely seen, 12ft-long oarfish found in waters off San Diego

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Group finds elusive deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times since 1901

A group of people kayaking and snorkeling off the San Diego coast made an unusual discovery when they came across an oarfish, a rarely seen deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times in over a century.

The 12ft-long silvery fish was found floating dead in the water last weekend. The group, along with marine experts, helped bring the creature ashore for study.

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Trump reveals he made $300,000 selling Bibles and has big cryptocurrency stash

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Financial disclosure shows presidential nominee owes $500m in civil penalties but sheds little light on solvency

Donald Trump made hundred of thousands from his branded Bible and millions from his properties – but also owes millions for defamation and fraud cases, according to his latest financial disclosures that shed little light on the perennial question of whether the Republican presidential nominee is, in fact, solvent.

Voluminous disclosure documents to the US Office of Government Ethics to comply with election campaign laws show that, in addition to Trump’s US real estate holdings, he has global financial interests, including registered trademarks in China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ukraine and Israel.

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Global health charities warn of ‘huge and terrible’ threat to abortion rights if Trump returns

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‘Global gag rule’ and funding cuts will be ‘on different scale’ if Republicans win again, family-planning providers say

Providers of women’s healthcare around the world are preparing for potentially disastrous consequences should Donald Trump win the US presidential election in November.

Policies pursued during Trump’s last presidency caused “devastating” harm in a number of countries, said Beth Schlachter, a senior director at MSI Reproductive Choices in the US. It meant “clinics shuttered, health teams closed, women dying … but a second Trump term will be on a different scale”.

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Los Angeles police arrest four suspects over killing of actor Johnny Wactor

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General Hospital star, 37, was shot dead in downtown LA in May after interrupting men taking car’s catalytic converter

Police have arrested four suspects in the fatal shooting of Johnny Wactor, the actor best known for his role on General Hospital.

The four suspects were arrested in Los Angeles, and range in age from 18 to 22. Three of the suspects were booked on arrest warrants for murder and the fourth was booked as an accessory.

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Trump adds five new advisers as he tries to find attack lines against Harris

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Former president also says in press conference he is ‘entitled to personal attacks’ against Democratic rival

Donald Trump expanded his circle of senior advisers on Thursday, adding five new aides including his former 2016 presidential campaign chief as the campaign attempts to find effective attacks against Kamala Harris, according to people familiar with the matter.

The former president brought Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz from the Trump-aligned Maga Inc political action committee, as well as previous Trump campaign veterans Corey Lewandowski and Tim Murtaugh.

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Biden and Harris celebrate landmark deal to lower medication prices

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President declares ‘we finally beat big pharma’ as he joins Harris on stage in Maryland for first time since exiting race

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Thursday cast themselves as the champions of American seniors in a David-and-Goliath fight against big pharmaceutical companies, at a joint event touting a landmark deal to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

“We finally beat big pharma,” the US president declared, sharing the stage with his vice-president for the first time since he abandoned his re-election bid in late July and Harris replaced him as the Democratic nominee.

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JD Vance agrees to October vice-presidential debate with Tim Walz

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VP nominees to face off on 1 October as Vance challenges Walz to an earlier debate in September

JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, has accepted an invitation by CBS to debate Tim Walz, his Democratic counterpart, on 1 October after initially appearing to hedge.

Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, also said he was accepting another invitation from CNN to debate Walz on 18 September, although it was unclear whether the Democratic nominee had agreed to the challenge.

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Gun owned by infamous LA officer found amid $1m robbery investigation

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Two men charged with robbing luxury watch had firearm of Christopher Dorner, who killed four people and died in 2013

Authorities are investigating how a gun registered to an infamous Los Angeles police officer ended up at the Airbnb of two men recently charged in the robbery of a $1m watch in Beverly Hills.

Investigators discovered the weapon earlier this month after they connected the Airbnb to a vehicle involved in another Beverly Hills theft, authorities said. The weapon was registered to Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles police department (LAPD) officer who killed the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance as well as two others over nine days in 2013 before dying in a dramatic standoff with law enforcement. Dorner had felt he had been wrongly fired by LAPD, and accused the department of racism and corruption.

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The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki says she struggled to leave Diana’s mannerisms behind

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Emmy-nominated actor says she would catch herself ‘doing a lot of head tilting’ after finishing Netflix series

The Crown actor Elizabeth Debicki took a long time to shake off the mannerisms of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, whom she portrayed in the award-winning Netflix series.

The 33-year-old Australian found herself imitating Diana “for a long while” after the filming of the series’ sixth and final season, she said.

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Trump repeats attacks and falsehoods in free-wheeling press conference at his golf club – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the 2024 US election, you can read our full coverage here.

Donald Trump’s campaign has made a slew of new hires as he looks to get his footing against Democrat Kamala Harris, including bringing Corey Lewandowski, who managed part of his 2016 run, on to its leadership team.

Other hires on the team include Washington Times columnist and communications strategist Tim Murtaugh, political consultant Alex Bruesewitz and Taylor Budowich and Alex Pfeiffer, both of whom are associated with the Make America Great Again Super Pac.

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RFK Jr tried to meet with Kamala Harris to propose cabinet job – reports

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Independent presidential candidate reportedly reached out to campaign to discuss dropping out and endorsing Harris

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the beleaguered independent presidential candidate, reached out to the Kamala Harris campaign last week to discuss dropping out of the race and endorsing the Democrat, according to multiple reports.

Kennedy attempted to set up a meeting with Harris to propose him serving in her administration, possibly as a cabinet secretary, in exchange for his endorsement, the Washington Post reported.

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Players using toy claw game surprised by live groundhog among stuffed animals

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Colonel Custard found in Pennsylvania arcade game and released into nearby field: ‘He got set free. No one got bit’

A Pennsylvania groundhog is making a name for himself for something other than predicting an early or late spring.

An intrepid varmint dubbed Colonel Custard – so named for the frozen custard shop and mini-golf outlet where he was discovered – was found stowed away with a passel of stuffed animals prizes in an arcade game two weeks ago. Players were maneuvering a mechanical claw to pluck toys from the glass game case when they suddenly realized a real live groundhog was blinking back at them.

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Pay deal for new Starbucks CEO worth up to $113m

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Brian Niccol, who was poached from Chipotle, will get package worth four times that of his predecessor

The new chief executive of Starbucks is in line for a sign-on pay package worth up to $113m (£88m), in one of the largest such executive deals in corporate history and which is four times larger than that of his predecessor. .

The American coffee chain poached the boss of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Brian Niccol, naming him as its new chief executive this week in a surprise management shake-up, ousting Laxman Narasimhan from the job after just 17 months.

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Danish wind power giant Ørsted delays major US offshore project

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News follows scrapping of two other Atlantic windfarms and axing of hundreds of jobs as costs surge

The Danish company developing the world’s largest offshore windfarm in the North Sea has been forced to delay a major project off the north-east coast of the US, months after cancelling two nearby developments and cutting hundreds of jobs.

Ørsted has pushed back the start of commercial operations at its 704 megawatt Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut by a year, to 2026.

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Kim Dotcom to be extradited from New Zealand to US

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Justice minister signs extradition order for Megaupload founder 12 years after FBI-ordered raid over filesharing site

Kim Dotcom, who is facing criminal charges relating to the defunct filesharing website Megaupload, is to be extradited to the US, the New Zealand justice minister says, which could end more than a decade of legal wrangling.

German-born Dotcom has New Zealand residency and has been fighting extradition to the US since 2012 after an FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland mansion. The high court in New Zealand first approved his extradition in 2017, with an appeal court reaffirming the finding the year after. In 2020, the country’s supreme court again affirmed the finding but opened the door for a fresh round of judicial review.

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