Category Archives: US News

Pro-Trump multimillionaire and election denier boosts funds to far-right voter-conspiracy groups

Posted on by

Ex-Overstock chief Patrick Byrne using Maga-allied America Project to steer large amounts to groups pushing fringe theories

The multimillionaire and prominent election denier Patrick Byrne has been boosting his funding to the Maga-allied America Project and using it to steer six-figure checks to far-right groups that push voting conspiracies in Arizona, Michigan and elsewhere, according to tax records and voting experts.

Byrne, the former CEO of online retailer Overstock.com, said last fall that only $3m of the $30m the Florida-based project had raised at that point came from “the public”, with the rest coming from him.

Continue reading...

European divisions risk incoherent response to any second Trump term

Posted on by

Optimists say administration would be open to persuasion while sceptics say it is beyond time to Trump-proof Europe

To be a foreign diplomat serving in the US, charged with interpreting the country’s politics so it appears predictable and explicable to your political masters in Europe, is currently no easy job.

In a week where Donald Trump purported to address the nation as a self-aware, reflective and thoughtful Christian, before reverting to type with a slew of diatribes, and where he announced a vice-presidential pick who has openly stated he does not care about the future of Ukraine one way or the other, events have moved at a pace that even the most tapped-in of ambassadors and their staff would struggle to keep up with.

Continue reading...

Democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee dies aged 74, family says

Posted on by

Jackson Lee, who was first elected to Congress almost 30 years ago, had said she was being treated for pancreatic cancer last month

US representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a strong progressive voice in the Democratic party who was outspoken on African American and women’s rights, has died, her family posted on X late on Friday.

Jackson Lee, of Texas, announced last month she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment. She was 74 and had also previously had breast cancer.

Continue reading...

Man accused of Nazi salute during US Capitol attack jailed for nearly five years

Posted on by

Tyler Dykes, 26, who said at sentencing he is supporting Trump to be president, pleaded guilty to assault charges

A Marine who stormed the US Capitol and apparently flashed a Nazi salute in front of the building was sentenced on Friday to nearly five years in prison.

Tyler Bradley Dykes, of South Carolina, was an active-duty US marine when he grabbed a police riot shield from the hands of two police officers and used it to push his way through police lines during the attack by a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters on 6 January 2021.

Continue reading...

Deli meat-linked listeria outbreak kills two and sends two dozen to hospital

Posted on by

Largest number of people affected were in New York, and the two who died were from Illinois and New Jersey

At least two people have died and more than two dozen were hospitalized in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning linked to meat sliced at grocery store deli counters, US federal health officials said on Friday.

At least 28 people in a dozen states have gotten sick, though the largest number, seven, were in New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The people who died were from Illinois and New Jersey. Samples were collected from 29 May to 5 July and so far, all of the people known to be part of the outbreak have been hospitalized.

Continue reading...

Republican convention featured felons despite party’s ‘law and order’ pledge

Posted on by

Trump and Peter Navarro – fresh out of Florida jail – both addressed convention with Paul Manafort in attendance

The Republican party that promised in its 2024 policy platform to restore “law and order” as a “pillar” of “American civilisation” packed up and left Milwaukee on Friday after a convention featuring numerous felons.

The most prominent was the keynote speaker: Donald Trump, the former president turned nominee who in May was convicted in New York on 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records arising from hush-money payments to an adult film star.

Continue reading...

Pressure mounts on Biden as tally of Democrats urging withdrawal passes 30

Posted on by

US president reportedly feeling ‘angry and betrayed’ as speculation swirls that announcement could be imminent

A beleaguered Joe Biden entered potentially the most decisive weekend of his 50-year political career on Friday as the growing list of Democratic members of Congress calling on him to step aside surpassed 30, with the latest being the Ohio senator Sherrod Brown.

Biden is recovering from Covid-19 in self-isolation at his home in Delaware and reportedly feeling “angry and betrayed” by allies and speculation mounted that he might be preparing to announce his withdrawal from the race.

Continue reading...

Microsoft Windows IT outage: over 2,000 flights canceled across US; Fedex and UPS report service delays – live

Posted on by

Microsoft says cause of global chaos fixed; CrowdStrike CEO ‘deeply sorry’ but services may take days to recover as major disruptions unfold across US

The deputy spokesperson for New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, said that “critical infrastructure and emergency operations, including the 911 call system, have not been impacted”.

In a series of tweets, Fabien Levy wrote:

As this outage only affects Windows-based devices receiving automatic updates, our team at@NYCOfficeofTech has been working for the last few hours to halt any automatic updates and minimize potential service disruptions.”

Continue reading...

More Democrats call for Biden to exit 2024 race as president vows to return to campaign trail – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Biden’s campaign, you can read:

The report is consequential because Biden relies heavily on his family to make major political decisions. They are his inner circle and his brain trust and include his wife, Jill Biden, his only living son, Hunter Biden, and his sister, Valerie Biden.

Behind the scenes, those close to Biden, his family and top allies, are reportedly seething over the way he is being treated. They believe the effort to dislodge him from the campaign has been “backhanded and disrespectful” according to the NBC report, which says the family is “distraught and moving through the stages of anger and grief over how people they perceived to be friends have treated the president”.

Continue reading...

Russian court sentences US journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison

Posted on by

Reporter found guilty of spying in trial thought to have been rushed in preparation for prisoner swap

A Russian court has found the US journalist Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison, after a trial widely described as a sham.

Gershkovich, 32, denied the charges and pleaded not guilty during the secretive court proceedings in Yekaterinburg, mostly held behind closed doors. His employer, the Wall Street Journal, described the verdict as a “disgraceful, sham conviction”.

Continue reading...

US transportation, police and hospital systems stricken by global CrowdStrike IT outage

Posted on by

US wakes up to Microsoft system collapse from software update that has crippled world IT systems

Thousands of air passengers were stranded across the US on Friday morning and police and hospital systems were left struggling as a global IT outage grounded major domestic airlines and struck rail services, shipping and police emergency systems, as well as some hospital functions.

Technology systems using both Microsoft’s Windows and CrowdStrike cybersecurity software were hit by the outage, after a CrowdStrike update installed faulty software in computers running Windows.

Continue reading...

Slow recovery from IT outage begins as experts warn of future risks

Posted on by

Fault in CrowdStrike caused airports, businesses and healthcare services to languish in ‘largest outage in history’

Services began to come back online on Friday evening after an IT failure that wreaked havoc worldwide. But full recovery could take weeks, experts have said, after airports, healthcare services and businesses were hit by the “largest outage in history”.

Flights and hospital appointments were cancelled, payroll systems seized up and TV channels went off air after a botched software upgrade hit Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Continue reading...

Bob Newhart, famed comedian and sitcom actor, dies at 94

Posted on by

Star of game-changing sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, and Christmas comedy Elf, had period of illness

Bob Newhart, the revered US comedian and star of two classic sitcoms known for his deadpan delivery, died on Thursday at the age of 94.

The Chicago native and titular star of game-changing sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart in the 1970s and 80s, died at his home in Los Angeles after a period of short illnesses, his publicist Jerry Digney confirmed in a statement.

Continue reading...

Biden reportedly open to 2024 rethink as Pelosi steps up pressure campaign

Posted on by

Former House speaker has reportedly told colleagues president could be persuaded to leave race soon

Joe Biden has reportedly become more open in recent days to hearing arguments that he should step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate, and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told Democratic colleagues that he could be convinced to leave the race soon.

The Washington Post reported that Pelosi has taken a prominent role in passing messages from House Democrats to the White House, relaying concerns that Biden is incapable of beating Donald Trump in November, and has said she thinks Biden is close to making a decision to end his campaign.

Continue reading...

When is Trump’s RNC speech? How to watch and what’s at stake

Posted on by

The former president will speak from the Republican national convention in Milwaukee on Thursday night

The biggest event of the Republican convention kicks off Thursday night, with Donald Trump’s address to thousands of party loyalists in attendance.

Trump appeared at the opening night of the Republican national convention on Monday, when he was greeted with thunderous applause, marking his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt at his campaign rally. Earlier in the day, Trump announced JD Vance, the Ohio senator and once vocal critic of Trump, as his running mate.

Continue reading...

Lou Dobbs, renowned conservative cable news anchor, dies aged 78

Posted on by

Fox News host recently had his show canceled after joining in the false narrative of 2020 election being stolen

Lou Dobbs, a longtime cable news anchor known in recent years for supporting Donald Trump and for spreading misinformation, has died at age 78, according to statements posted on his social media accounts.

Trump paid tribute to Dobbs as “a friend, and truly incredible Journalist, Reporter, and Talent” in a post on his social media site, writing: “He understood the World, and what was ‘happening,’ better than others.”

Continue reading...

In Dearborn, home of largest Arab American community, despair and apathy dominate

Posted on by

The Michigan city’s residents ask ‘where is the humanity?’ as war in Gaza rages on. Some won’t vote this fall in protest

Abu Bilal sits quietly on a stool in Oriental Fashion, a clothing store he owns on Dearborn’s Warren Avenue, listening to the radio. It’s hard to ascertain whether his tone when talking about the war in Gaza is one of near-complete defeatism or seething anger.

“Ninety people were killed today; hundreds were injured,” he says, referencing an Israeli airstrike that killed dozens of Palestinian civilians in Khan Younis on Saturday.

Continue reading...

‘Just missed’: German comedian loses job over Trump shooting joke

Posted on by

Sebastian Hotz, aka El Hotzo, was dropped from his radio show and provoked anger from Elon Musk after now-deleted posts on X

A 28-year-old German comedian has got into trouble with Donald Trump supporters and then Elon Musk after sending a series of tweets appearing to welcome the assassination attempt on the former US president.

Sebastian Hotz, who posts and performs as El Hotzo, lost his job with a public broadcaster this week for a series of tweets on X, Musk’s social media platform, after Trump narrowly escaped death, saying that the attempt had been like the last bus – “unfortunately, just missed”.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump to give RNC speech as Joe Biden faces ongoing pressure to stand aside – US politics live

Posted on by

Former president to address RNC after his running mate JD Vance gave populist-tinged speech on Wednesday

Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has written a column for the Guardian, arguing that Trump’s near assassination transformed his theology, giving the decidedly earthly ex-president a powerful spiritual sheen.

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has transformed the theology of Trump. He has long portrayed himself as an innocent lamb falsely accused, the target of slings and arrows to bear the suffering of believers. Now the bullet and the blood of Butler, Pennsylvania, have sanctified him for the faithful and brought forth a new gospel.

Continue reading...

Rightwinger Leonard Leo helped fuel Bud Light boycott, tax filings show

Posted on by

Documents reveal group linked to Leo gave money to another group that played central role in boycott

Tax filings obtained by the Guardian show how the rightwing dark money impresario Leonard Leo helped fuel the Bud Light boycott in response to ads featuring the transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, an effort that generated threats against Mulvaney, violence against consumers and layoffs by Anheuser-Busch.

Uncovered by the watchdog group Accountable.US, the filings for 2022 show the Concord Fund, a group linked to Leo, gave $350,000 to Consumers Defense, an arm of Consumers’ Research, not long before that group played a central role in the Bud Light boycott.

Continue reading...