Category Archives: US News

Syngenta says it will stop making pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease

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Company will halt production of controversial paraquat weed killer by end of June as it faces thousands of lawsuits

Syngenta, maker of a controversial pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease, said on Tuesday that it will stop making its paraquat weed killer by the end of June.

The announcement comes as the company is facing several thousand lawsuits brought by people in the US who allege they developed Parkinson’s disease due to their exposure to Syngenta’s paraquat products.

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Fire caused by drone strike on US consulate in Dubai has been extinguished, officials say

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No injuries have been reported in the strike and fire, Dubai’s media office said on Tuesday

Authorities have ​put down ‌a limited fire near ⁠the ​US consulate ​in Dubai due to ​a ​drone strike, with no injuries reported, according to Dubai’s media office on Tuesday.

In a statement posted online, the media office said: “Dubai authorities have confirmed that a fire resulting from a drone-related incident near the US Consulate has been successfully contained.”

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Trump rebukes Starmer again for not letting US attack Iran from UK bases

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US president criticises prime minister for third time 24 hours, describing him as ‘not Churchill’ over initial refusal

Donald Trump has launched a deeply personal attack on Keir Starmer over his refusal to let the US launch initial strikes on Iran from British bases, telling reporters: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”

In his latest extraordinary salvo, the US president said he was not happy with the UK even though the prime minister eventually agreed the US could use Diego Garcia for strikes on Iranian missile facilities.

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Half-truths and no truths: Trump’s latest claims on the UK factchecked

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From the Chagos Islands to ‘windmills’ and sharia law, the US president’s comments do not bear much scrutiny

Donald Trump has been opining about the UK again, saying on Tuesday that Keir Starmer was “not Winston Churchill” and repeating his complaint about the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Here are some recent things the US president has said about British issues, and how they compare with reality.

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Trump’s show of force in the Middle East creates a weakness China can exploit

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Beijing can again leverage its critical minerals dominance over an increasingly busy US military, as Taiwan slides further down the White House list of priorities

As the US and Israel opened a new chapter of chaos in the Middle East, China stands to benefit from a Washington establishment that does not have the political or physical resources to focus on Asia.

Officially, China has condemned the attacks. Wang Yi, the foreign minister, called them “unacceptable” and called for a ceasefire, rhetoric that is typical of Beijing in response to Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic foreign policy moves.

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US strikes on Iran triggered by Israel’s plan to launch attack, Rubio says

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Democrats disturbed by rationale that Trump ordered pre-emptive strikes out of concern about Tehran retaliation

Israel’s determination to attack Iran and the certainty that US troops would be targeted in response forced the Trump administration to take pre-emptive strikes, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said, in a new explanation for Washington’s surprise entry into the conflict.

The rationale drew divided reviews from top members of Congress who on Monday evening received the first briefing by the Trump administration since it ordered the air campaign to begin over the weekend.

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Luke Kornet says Atlanta Hawks’ theme night with strip club Magic City objectifies women

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  • Club is popular with athletes and rappers

  • Kornet says night helps objectify women

San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet has called on the Atlanta Hawks to abandon their collaboration with a famous strip club.

Magic City is an Atlanta institution and been mentioned in a string of hip-hop records, as well as hosting rappers such as Drake, Lil Yachty, Migos, Jack Harlow and Future. It is also popular with athletes: past visitors have included Michael Jordan, while MLS’s Atlanta United celebrated their title at the club in 2018. The club gained widespread attention in 2020 when the Los Angeles Clippers’ Lou Williams visited the club after leaving the NBA’s quarantine bubble during the Covid pandemic.

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US supreme court blocks California privacy protections for trans students

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State laws had limited sharing of information with parents about gender identity of trans students in public schools

The US supreme court has decided to block a series of California laws that can limit the sharing of information with parents about the gender identity of transgender students in public ​schools. This ruling marks a victory for parents who challenged these protections on religious and due process grounds.

The emergency request was granted on Monday and the decision was made along party lines, with the three liberal justices dissenting.

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Trump will attend White House Correspondents’ Dinner for first time as president

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Trump boycotted the dinner in 2017 and has not attended any in either of his terms as president

Donald Trump said Monday he will attend the White House correspondents’ association dinner for the first time as president.

Writing in a social media post, Trump said: “In honor of our Nation’s 250th Birthday, and the fact that these ‘Correspondents’ now admit that I am truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T., according to many, it will be my Honor to accept their invitation, and work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER!”

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Supreme court hands Republicans win over preserving New York City voting district

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Ruling retains boundaries for 2026 elections despite state court ruling it was unfair to Black and Hispanic residents

The supreme court on Monday sided with Republicans in ruling that the boundaries of the only GOP-held congressional district in New York City do not need to be redrawn for the 2026 elections, despite a court ruling that the district is unfair to Black and Hispanic residents.

Over the dissent of the court’s three liberal justices, the conservative majority halted the state court ruling that had ordered New York’s redistricting commission to redraw the district held by Nicole Malliotakis that covers Staten Island and a small piece of Brooklyn.

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Middle East crisis live: Kuwait mistakenly shoots down three US fighter planes, as US says Iran’s ‘reckless’ attacks threaten regional stability

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Israeli military says fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah could take ‘many’ more days; US crew bailed out safely after crash-landing, says Kuwait

Bahrain has said that one person was killed by shrapnel from an intercepted missile. The death of a foreign worker at Salman Industrial City, working on a boat there, marks the kingdom’s first reported fatality in the war.

Bahrain, home to the US navy’s 5th fleet, said it intercepted 61 missiles and 34 attack drones launched against it. It said some shrapnel had gotten through, striking buildings and the naval base.

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Democrats thrown into disarray as US offensive on Iran creates cracks

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Lawmakers from Sanders to Mark Kelly offer mixed feelings on Trump’s action and killing of Iranian supreme leader

As Republicans celebrated the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with praise for Donald Trump’s decisive action, Democrats faced their own divisions and a reckoning over how to present a united front.

Most were quick to condemn the US president for sidelining Congress to launch an illegal and unconstitutional war and demanded a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain his military onslaught.

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Missing Florida man found over a week later trapped in shoulder-deep mud

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Local crews rescued Andrew Giddens, 36, near a borrow pit after he faced freezing weather without food or water

A Florida man who had been missing since Valentine’s Day was found over a week later trapped in mud up to his shoulders, authorities said.

Andrew Giddens, 36, had reportedly gone several days without food or water by then, and officials ultimately rescued him in dramatic fashion to end his nightmarish ordeal.

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Lack of a clear Iran plan could suck US into a long conflict: ‘Where does this go?’

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Fears that decision to strike could be open-ended as Trump comes under pressure to spell out his vision for the country

Donald Trump is under pressure to spell out his vision for Iran amid the ongoing attacks on the country and reports of the first American casualties since the launch of unprovoked US and Israeli military strikes.

Trump’s critics are demanding that the White House provide greater clarity about what comes next. Opponents and analysts say the lack of a clear plan outlined so far has created a danger of the US being sucked into a long-lasting conflict of the sort that Trump repeatedly vowed to avoid.

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UK to allow US to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iran

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Keir Starmer says decision was taken amid increasingly reckless Iranian actions, as Liberal Democrats demand parliamentary vote

The UK has agreed to let the US use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites, Keir Starmer has said.

The UK has so far not been involved in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but in a recorded statement on Sunday evening, the prime minister said that Iran’s approach was becoming more reckless and putting British lives at risk, leading to the decision to allow the US to use two of its military bases.

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Delroy Lindo thankful for ‘love and support’ after N-word incident at Baftas

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Lindo speaks out after man with Tourette syndrome shouted slur while actor was on stage with Michael B Jordan

British-American actor Delroy Lindo expressed gratitude for “the support and love” he and Michael B Jordan have received after a man with Tourette syndrome (TS) shouted the N-word as the two men presented a Bafta award.

“We appreciate all the support and love that we have been shown,” Lindo – who, like Jordan, is Black – said on stage at the annual NAACP Image awards in Los Angeles. He called it “a classic case of something that could be very negative becoming very positive”.

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Arkansas father rushing his sick child to hospital won’t face charges after officer rammed into his car

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State trooper used Pit ramming maneuvre to stop Dillon Hess from speeding while transporting his son to hospital

An Arkansas father speeding while transporting his sick child to the hospital will not face charges after a state police trooper used a vehicle-ramming technique known as a Pit maneuvre to stop his vehicle, authorities have said.

Officials said they have ruled out charges against the father, identified as Dillon Hess, who was speeding as he rushed his son to the hospital for emergency medical treatment after he suffered an allergic reaction, as the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette first reported.

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Austin bar shooting leaves three dead, including suspect, and 14 wounded

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FBI official says evidence found on the suspect and in his car indicated a ‘potential nexus to terrorism’

The FBI’s joint terrorism taskforce has been called in to help investigate a deadly mass shooting in downtown Austin, Texas, on Sunday morning in which a gunman opened fire in front of a bar popular with university students, killing two people and injuring 14 others before being fatally shot by police.

An FBI official, Alex Doran, told reporters at a press conference that it was too early to determine the shooter’s motivation. But he added that evidence found on the suspect and in his car indicated a “potential nexus to terrorism”.

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Trump says Iran leadership agrees to talks after US and Israel strike Tehran

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‘They should have done it sooner, they waited too long,’ says Trump but he doesn’t say when talks would take place

Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran’s political leadership have agreed to talks, a day after the US and Israel began to target the country’s military and political infrastructure, killing the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top officials.

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump told a reporter for the Atlantic magazine on Sunday. “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”

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US-Israel war on Iran: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed dead by state media; Iran launches fresh strikes – latest reports

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US president says Khamenei’s death is ‘justice for the people of Iran’ as he repeats call for regime change; Iran targets US bases in region

Loud explosions were heard early on Sunday near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, AFP reported. Thick black smoke was rising from the airport area.

On Saturday, US-led coalition forces downed several missiles and explosive-laden drones over Erbil.

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