Category Archives: US News

US inspections of Mexican avocados to resume after suspension over assault of inspectors

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US agricultural department employees were attacked and detained earlier this week in Michoacán state

US government inspections of avocados and mangoes in the Mexican state of Michoacán will gradually resume, the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, announced on Friday, a week after they were suspended over an assault on inspectors.

The US agriculture department inspectors “will gradually begin to return to the packing plants following recent aggression against them”, Salazar said in a statement. “However, it is still necessary to advance in guaranteeing their security before reaching full operations.

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US family sues Nasa for $80,000 in damages after space debris hits home

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Debris was from a pallet released from space station that did not burn up in atmospheric re-entry

A family in Naples, Florida, whose home was struck by debris that fell to Earth from outer space and punched a hole in the roof is pursuing $80,000 from Nasa in compensation for damages.

The law firm Cranfill Sumner said in a press release that it filed a claim on behalf of plaintiff Alejandro Otero and his family.

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New York’s Fat Beach Day gives plus-size people a space to be themselves

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Jacob Riis Beach hosts the day of body positivity and fun, in the city at the heart of the fat acceptance movement

Fat Beach Day events are springing up across the US in an effort to fight back against fat-phobia, reclaim safe spaces for the community and honor plus-size culture. Today, one of these celebrations is being held to coincide with Pride month at Jacob Riis Beach in New York, a location deeply ensconced in the city’s activism space.

“We’re going through something culturally that is impacting us every day on an individual level and a systemic level,” said Jordan Underwood, the event organizer. “We’re really trying to open up a space for people to be themselves.”

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Research reveals toxic PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ accumulate in testes

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Study suggests exposure to chemicals manufactured to resist water and heat likely to affect health of offspring

New research has found for the first time that PFAS “forever chemicals” accumulate in the testes, and the exposure probably affects children’s health.

The toxic chemicals can damage sperm during a sensitive developmental period, potentially leading to liver disease and higher cholesterol, especially in male offspring, the paper, which looked at the chemicals in mice, noted.

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Ancient Mayan vase purchased by US woman for $4 returned to Mexico

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Anna Lee Dozier bought ceramic vessel at Maryland thrift store but it will now reside in Mexico City’s main museum

Mexico has regained a lost ancient Maya vase because of a US woman who bought the artefact for less than $5 at a thrift store.

Anne Lee Dozier recently received an expression of gratitude from the Mexican embassy in her home town of Washington DC for her role in reuniting the 1,200-to 1,800-year-old vase with its motherland.

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No props, no notes, no audience – but Trump-Biden debate will have ad breaks

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After chaos in 2020, the switch from non-partisan overseer to commercial TV has some critics fearing a slippery slope

“Will you shut up, man?” It was hardly oratory worthy of Abraham Lincoln, but Joe Biden’s primal plea in the face of relentless interruptions and heckling from Donald Trump provided a defining soundbite of the 2020 presidential debates.

The two will face each other again on Thursday for the first of two head-to-head debates for the 2024 campaign, under new rules designed to prevent matters degenerating as they did four years ago. The US president and the former president will meet in a TV studio without the presence of a partisan audience, which some saw as an essential ingredient of Trump’s rabble-rousing approach. And to counteract the repeated butting-in that so irked Biden, the candidates will have their microphones muted when they are not speaking.

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Will ‘sigh of relief’ after US supreme court gun ruling be short-lived?

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Domestic abusers still may not possess guns, but first case decided since 2022 Bruen decision likely won’t be the last

The US supreme court decided to uphold a 30-year-old federal law prohibiting subjects of domestic violence restraining orders (DVROs) from possessing guns. In Friday’s 8-1 decision, justices – except Clarence Thomas – agreed that Zackey Rahimi’s constitutional rights were not violated when his guns were confiscated following a lengthy history of gun crimes and abuse against his then girlfriend and mother of his child.

While the ruling is not a surprise to many experts who heard the 7 November 2023 oral argument, it represents a small victory for those who advocate for protection orders like DVROs and work with survivors of domestic abuse.

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Trump announces Teamsters union chief to speak at Republican convention

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Sean O’Brien accepts invitation as union says its message ‘needs to be heard by as wide an audience as possible’

Sean O’Brien, the president of the Teamsters union, will speak at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee next month, a move that could spell trouble for Joe Biden’s support among blue-collar workers ahead of the November election.

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, announced on Friday on his Truth Social platform that O’Brien had accepted his invitation to speak at the convention and that he was looking forward to seeing him represent the Teamsters.

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Mysterious shiny monolith removed from Nevada desert

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Art installation at Gass Peak was taken down on Thursday, police say, citing ‘public safety and environmental concerns’

The mysterious monolith that appeared in the Nevada desert has been removed, years after similar mystifying, gleaming objects first appeared in the deserts of Utah during the Covid-19 pandemic and captured the world’s imagination.

Las Vegas police announced the discovery of the monolith – an art installation – at Gass Peak, roughly 40 miles (64.4km) north of the city, on Monday.

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Three people dead and 10 injured in mass shooting at Arkansas grocery

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Shooting occurred at Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, a city of about 3,200 people 65 miles south of Little Rock

Three people were killed and 10 others were wounded – including at least two law enforcement officers – when a shooter opened fire on Friday at a grocery store in Arkansas, police said.

The shooting occurred on Friday morning at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce. The suspected shooter was critically injured after being shot by police, Arkansas state police said. The wounded officers did not have life-threatening injuries.

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Texas Republican vows to pass bill on Ten Commandments in public schools

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Dan Patrick pledges to emulate Louisiana with bill that would force schools to display Ten Commandments

A leading Texas Republican has pledged to emulate Louisiana by passing a bill that would force public schools to display the Ten Commandments.

Dan Patrick, Texas’s lieutenant governor, said on Friday he would pass Bill 1515 mandating the biblical stricture in all classrooms, in the next session of the state senate, the upper legislative chamber over which he presides.

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Biden says supreme court preserved ‘critical protections’ for domestic violence survivors – live

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President vows to continue work to stop ‘epidemic of gun violence’ after praising supreme court ruling that disarms domestic abusers

The supreme court’s chief justice John Roberts wrote the opinion in United States v Rahimi, which upheld a law that bans domestic abusers from carrying guns.

“An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment,” Roberts wrote.

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Family of taekwondo instructors fights off sexual assault attempt

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The black-belt ‘group of good Samaritans’ rescued an employee at a Texas cellphone store ‘just in time’

A family of taekwondo instructors fought off a man who was sexually assaulting a woman next to their dojo in Texas and detained him until sheriff’s deputies could arrive to arrest him, according to authorities.

In a statement issued Thursday, the sheriff of Harris county – which encompasses Houston – thanked Han An, his wife, Hong An, and their three children Hannah, Simon and Christian for what he called “quick action in protecting others”.

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Cyberattack hobbles car dealers across US and Canada for third day in a row

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CDK said in a letter to its 15,000 customers that it ‘did not have a an estimated time frame for resolution’

A cyber outage at a major retail software provider for automobile dealers entered its third consecutive day on Friday, delaying car sales throughout North America, the affected companies said. The software provider, CDK, said there was no end in sight.

“The CDK outage is impacting automotive dealerships across the US and Canada, including a portion of BMW Group dealers,” a spokesperson for BMW North America told Reuters.

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Manhattan district attorney asks judge to extend gag order against Trump

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Alvin Bragg has received onslaught of threats against him and other officials since guilty verdict in hush-money trial

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who prosecuted Donald Trump in his felony trial, has asked a judge to extend a gag order against the ex-president after an onslaught of threats and harassment against him and other officials since the guilty verdict.

The gag order was placed on Trump before the start of the felony trial. It prevented the former president from attacking witnesses, court staff, jurors and relatives of Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the trial.

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Diesel the escaped pet donkey found living with elk after five years

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California family lets Diesel ‘live his best life’ with his new herd after he got loose on a camping trip

A donkey spotted apparently living with a herd of wild elk in a video that went viral on the internet has been identified as Diesel, a once beloved pet who had apparently run away five years ago.

The video was taken earlier this year, when Max Fennell, a hunter in northern California, filmed a group of wild elk apparently hanging out with a donkey who appeared to be a member of their herd.

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Newly released video shows Saudi man filming locations ahead of 9/11 attacks

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Footage was unsealed in court action by families of victims who claim Saudi government was complicit in event

A 25-year-old video has come to light of a man identified by the FBI as a Saudi intelligence agent filming locations in the center of Washington three months before Al-Qaida decided to carry out the 9/11 attacks.

The footage, shot in the summer of 1999 and in the possession of the FBI, was unsealed in a court action by families of the victims of 9/11, who claim that Saudi Arabia’s government was complicit in the event, which the country’s rulers deny. It was obtained by CBS and shown on the 60 Minutes program.

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US ‘incredibly concerned’ over Putin’s threat to supply weapons to North Korea after Asia tour

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State department warns such a move could destabilise the peninsula, as South Korea considers arming Ukraine

Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Russia could supply weapons to North Korea is “incredibly concerning”, a senior US official has said, days after Putin and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, signed a defence pact that requires their countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.

Matthew Miller, a US state department spokesperson, said the provision of Russian weapons to Pyongyang “would destabilise the Korean peninsula, of course, and potentially … depending on the type of weapons they provide … violate UN security council resolutions that Russia itself has supported”.

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Charges dropped for Columbia students arrested at pro-Palestinian protests

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Manhattan prosecutors decline to pursue charges against dozens of students who occupied building in April protest

Dozens of pro-Palestinian student protesters arrested in April after occupying and barricading a building at Columbia University in New York City have had all criminal charges against them dropped, Manhattan prosecutors said at a court hearing.

The hearing at the Manhattan criminal courthouse came seven weeks after Columbia administrators called in hundreds of armed and heavily armored police officers to the university’s campus in a high-profile law-enforcement response that was broadcast live on national news channels.

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