Category Archives: US News

Chip stocks fall further after Trump’s remarks on Taiwan defence

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Semiconductor and related tech shares hit hard by former US president’s calls for Taipei to pay for US protection

The stocks of some of the world’s largest chipmakers have fallen further after comments by Donald Trump that Taiwan, which is central to the global industry, should pay for its own defences against China.

Shares in semiconductor and related tech companies had already plunged on Wednesday after the former president’s comments, as well as a report that suggested Joe Biden’s administration was considering the strictest controls on the trade of chips to China.

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Lammy says Christianity and class give him common ground with JD Vance

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UK foreign secretary says he has talked to Trump running mate as he seeks to build bridges with senior Republicans

• UK politics live – latest updates

David Lammy has said he is already engaging with Donald Trump’s controversial running mate, JD Vance, and can identify with him because of their common working class and Christian backgrounds.

The British foreign secretary was speaking just hours after the possible future US vice-president reiterated his “America first” views, pledging to the Republican national convention (RNC) that he would not send US soldiers to war abroad unnecessarily.

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Trump expected to call for national unity in first speech since assassination attempt

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Strategists view Republican convention address as time to ‘pivot’ ex-president’s image, while critics remain skeptical

With political winds at his back, Donald Trump on Thursday is expected to use his first speech since surviving an assassination attempt to plead for national unity.

Strategists view the Republican national convention address, likely to be watched by tens of millions of Americans on primetime television, as a unique opportunity to redefine the former US president as more palatable to moderate voters.

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JD Vance fires salvos at Democrats in first speech as Trump’s running mate

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Junior senator of Ohio leaned into his own background and attacked Biden in Republican national convention address

JD Vance formally accepted the Republican vice-presidential nomination on Wednesday with a deliberate, and at times divisive, pitch to re-elect Donald Trump in November.

Addressing delegates in Milwaukee on the third night of the convention, Vance, the junior senator of Ohio, presented the Republican party as a champion of working-class Americans while denouncing Democrats as out of touch and ineffective. The populist-tinged rhetoric offered the latest sign of how Trump has reshaped the Republican party and rejected much of the traditional conservatism of its past.

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JD Vance tells Republican convention ‘people who govern this country have failed and failed again’ – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. You can read some of our latest stories on the RNC below:

In his speech to the Republican convention, Greg Abbott gave a strenuous and well-received defense of his state’s forays into immigration enforcement, and vowed to keep up his controversial practice of bussing migrants from the state to cities nationwide.

“When Biden took 50 acres of Texas border property to illegally process up to 5,000 illegal immigrants a day, I directed the Texas National Guard to take back our land and wire it shut,” Abbott said, in an apparent reference to a legal clash between the state government and the Biden administration earlier this year.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris refused to even come to Texas and to see the border crisis that they created. I took the border to them. I began bussing illegal immigrants to Washington DC, and we have continued bussing migrants to sanctuary cities across the entire country, and those busses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border.

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Syrian official who ran prison where detainees alleged torture arrested in US

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Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, 72, who oversaw notorious Adra prison, detained at LAX on immigration fraud charges

A former Syrian military official who oversaw a prison where human rights officials say torture and abuse routinely took place has been arrested in Los Angeles, court documents show.

Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, 72, was taken into custody last week at Los Angeles international airport on immigration fraud charges, specifically that he denied on his US visa and citizenship applications that he had ever persecuted anyone in Syria, according to a criminal complaint filed on 9 July. Investigators are considering additional charges, the complaint shows.

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Biden hasn’t done enough to ease age concerns, former top Obama adviser says – live

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David Axelrod, former top Obama adviser, says the question of whether Biden can survive is ‘entirely in his hands’

Today’s theme at the Republican national convention will be “Make America Strong Once Again,” and many of the speeches are expected to focus on foreign policy.

“Each one of these has a theme, like last night was ‘bend the knee and grovel’ apparently,” Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said at a Democratic press conference in Milwaukee. “And today is ‘celebrate Russia day,’ I guess.”

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US military to dismantle ill-fated Gaza aid pier, saying it is ‘mission complete’

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Although Central Command praises operation, scheme announced by Biden cost $230m and only operated 25 days

The US military-built pier for carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza will be dismantled and brought home, ending a mission that has been fraught with repeated weather and security problems that limited how much food and other supplies could get to starving Palestinians.

Vice Adm Brad Cooper, deputy commander at US Central Command, told reporters in a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday that the pier had achieved its intended effect in what he called an “unprecedented operation”.

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Man who tried to assassinate Reagan says ‘violence is not the way to go’

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John Hinckley Jr tweets ‘give peace a chance’ in wake of Trump assassination attempt – drawing bemused responses

John Hinckley Jr, who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981, has waded into the discourse around the recent attempted assassination of Donald Trump in a social media post seemingly disavowing his own past actions.

“Violence is not the way to go. Give peace a chance,” Hinckley wrote on X on Wednesday, sentiments that drew a welter of bemused and often ironic responses.

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Democrats’ rift widens as Nancy Pelosi reportedly joins calls for Biden to quit

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Tensions amid party members rise as Biden tests positive for Covid and will be in self-isolation in Delaware

Pressure for Joe Biden to step aside as the Democrats’ presidential pick to face Donald Trump had eased since the Republican survived an assassination attempt last weekend, but began to rise again on Wednesday.

The tension rose as Biden was diagnosed with Covid and cancelled events to self-isolate at his home in Delaware.

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Adam Schiff says Biden should ‘pass the torch’ and bow out of 2024 US election

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California Democrat and US Senate candidate calls on Joe Biden to end his campaign, stating he has ‘serious concerns’

Adam Schiff, the high-profile California Democrat and US Senate candidate, on Wednesday called on Joe Biden to end his presidential campaign, stating he had “serious concerns” about the president’s ability to beat Donald Trump in November.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles-area congressman joined almost 20 other congressional Democrats in asking the president to step aside. Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history”, Schiff said, but it was time “to pass the torch”.

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Cellphone and detonator found on rooftop near suspected Trump shooter

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Items seen in picture obtained by Pittsburgh-area TV station while motives remain unclear

A picture obtained by a Pittsburgh-area TV station shows a cellphone and detonator carried by the gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at the Butler county show grounds in western Pennsylvania last Saturday.

The items were shown on the rooftop from which Thomas Matthew Crooks used an AR-15-style rifle to fire on the former president and Republican presidential nominee.

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Nikki Haley says Donald Trump ‘has my strong endorsement’ as she is greeted by boos and cheers at Republican convention – live

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Former rival for Republican presidential nomination takes to stage in Milwaukee to formally endorse Trump

In addition to getting Donald Trump back in the White House, Republicans really want to retake the majority in the US Senate in the November elections, and have dedicated much of the convention tonight thus far to promoting their candidates for crucial seats.

In addition to Kari Lake, who is vying for Arizona’s open senate seat, the convention has heard from Eric Hovde, the party’s candidate to beat incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin. Here’s what Hovde told the crowd:

Tammy Baldwin called the Biden administration the most successful in generations. Can you believe that one? I mean, seriously, this shows how detached she is from everyday Wisconsinites. It doesn’t have to be this way. Under President Trump, family budgets were more secure, our border was secure, our world was secure. Where Biden and Baldwin have failed, President Trump and I will get the job done.

I love America, and I’ve lived the American dream. I married my best friend, raised a family, built successful businesses and created thousands of jobs for hard-working Americans. But the American dream that I lived is under attack from Joe Biden and his enablers in the Senate like Sherrod Brown.

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House Democrats oppose party’s plan to speed up Biden nomination

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Trio say DNC proposal to hold ‘virtual roll call’ in July is ‘terrible idea’ that could undermine morale and unity

At least three US House of Representatives Democrats were preparing to sign a letter protesting against a plan to speed up the official party approval of Joe Biden’s re-election bid, the lawmakers’ offices said on Tuesday.

The three lawmakers are among a growing number of Democrats upset by plans to hold a “virtual rollcall” vote on Biden’s becoming the nominee as soon as 21 July, instead of waiting for the convention being held from 19 to 22 August in Chicago.

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Republican convention speakers ramp up anti-Democratic rhetoric despite campaign promise of unity

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Kari Lake attacks media as ‘fake news’ as Elise Stefanik calls Biden ‘feckless and failed’ and says he’s caused ‘chaos’

Speakers at the Republican national convention ramped up their rhetorical attacks on Democrats on Tuesday night despite Donald Trump’s presidential campaign signalling that the party would adopt a serious tone and message of unity in the face of political violence.

Kari Lake, a Trump ally and Republican candidate for senate in Arizona, used her speech time to launch an attack on the media, which she called “fake news”, and said more Americans were no longer tuning in to mainstream media.

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Scientists set up webcam in Colorado rattlesnake ‘mega den’ with up to 2,000 reptiles

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Researchers say rattlesnakes have an undeservedly maligned reputation but are social creatures who make good mothers

A “mega den” with as many as 2,000 rattlesnakes isn’t top binge-watching for many people. But a round-the-clock webcam in Colorado is providing a viewing bonanza for scientists and other snake enthusiasts whose observations are helping to broaden understanding of these unusual – and undeservedly maligned – reptiles.

The remote site on private land in northern Colorado is on a hillside full of rock crevices where the snakes can keep warm and hide from predators.

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Residents of Illinois town evacuate as officials warn of ‘imminent’ dam failure

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Nashville and surrounding areas have been hit by severe storms and flooding, overwhelming city’s infrastructure

Residents in Nashville, Illinois, are evacuating their homes after emergency management officials warned the failure of the city’s dam was “imminent”.

Nashville, a small city in Illinois with a population of nearly 3,000 people, and surrounding areas have been hit with severe storms which have caused flooding, overwhelming the city’s infrastructure. More than 5in of rain fell in the region within six hours on Tuesday.

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Neo-Nazi leader charged over alleged plot to poison New York Jewish children

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Georgian Michail Chkhikvishvili, 21, accused of planning to have associate dressed as Santa hand out poisoned candy

The leader of a neo-Nazi extremist group based in eastern Europe has been charged with plotting to have an associate dress up as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York City to sow terror, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old man from the Republic of Georgia, was indicted on four charges including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence, according to a statement from the US justice department. It was not known if he has an attorney.

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Chinese business tycoon convicted of defrauding followers in $1bn scheme

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Guo Wengui, who gained fans for criticizing Communist party in China, found guilty in US of nine criminal counts

Guo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese business tycoon whose criticism of the Communist party won him legions of online followers and powerful friends in the American conservative movement, was convicted by a US jury on Tuesday of engaging in an enormous multi-year fraud that ripped off some of his most devoted fans.

Once believed to be among the richest people in China, Guo was arrested in New York in March 2023 and accused of operating a racketeering enterprise that stretched from 2018 through 2023.

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US and Israel allowed tax-deductible donations to groups blocking Gaza aid

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Three groups that have prevented humanitarian supplies reaching the Palestinian territory have raised over $200,000

Under American pressure, Israel has pledged to deliver large quantities of humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. But at the same time, the US and Israel have allowed tax-deductible donations to far-right groups that have blocked that aid from being delivered.

Three groups that have prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza – including one accused of looting or destroying supplies – have raised more than $200,000 from donors in the US and Israel, the Associated Press and the Israeli investigative site Shomrim have found in an examination of crowdfunding websites and other public records.

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