Category Archives: US News

Trump judge in Mar-a-Lago case denies prosecutors’ request for gag order

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Setback for special counsel Jack Smith as Aileen Cannon denies motion filed after Trump falsely claimed FBI was ready to kill him

The judge handling Donald Trump’s classified documents case has rejected a request by prosecutors to impose a gag order on the former president over his false claims that FBI officers were prepared to shoot him when they raided his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The ruling, by Aileen Cannon, Florida federal district judge, is the latest in a series of setbacks for Jack Smith, the special counsel who has spearheaded the prosecution into Trump’s alleged mishandling of documents from his time in the White House.

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David DePape apologizes for attacking Paul Pelosi and gets 30-year sentence – again

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DePape, who didn’t get to speak in court in original trial on assault of Nancy’s Pelosi’s husband, gets no change to original sentence

The man who was convicted of assaulting then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022 was re-sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday, with no change in the original sentence after the case was reopened so he could speak during his sentencing hearing, local news reported.

David DePape was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison on 17 May for forcibly entering Pelosi’s home in San Francisco early on 28 October 2022 and clubbing her husband, Paul, in the head with a hammer in a politically motivated attack.

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Biden official says more sanctions are needed to counter Russia war economy

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Daleep Singh said that sanctioning third parties that trade with Russia is needed, in addition to seizing assets for Ukraine

Russia’s shift towards a full-fledged war economy requires the west to extend its sanctions policy, including by sanctioning third-party entities that trade with Moscow, a senior White House official signalled on Tuesday.

Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for international economics, said the United States would consider export controls to prevent China-Russia trade that threatens American security and take further action to increase the cost of Russia using a shadow fleet to evade the G7 countries’ oil price cap.

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Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed

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Exclusive: Investigation reveals how intelligence agencies tried to derail war crimes prosecution, with Netanyahu ‘obsessed’ with intercepts

When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.”

Karim Khan did not provide specific details of attempts to interfere in the ICC’s work, but he noted a clause in the court’s foundational treaty that made any such interference a criminal offence. If the conduct continued, he added, “my office will not hesitate to act”.

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Revealed: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry

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Mossad director Yossi Cohen personally involved in secret plot to pressure Fatou Bensouda to drop Palestine investigation, sources say

The former head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal.

Yossi Cohen’s covert contacts with the ICC’s then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories.

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How Ozempic is re-shaping the US

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The company behind the weight-loss drug has made millions, but without health insurance it is unaffordable for many. George Chidi reports

George Chidi, a politics and democracy reporter for Guardian US, recently came to Europe on holiday. He had been looking forward to eating his way around Paris and London, and was especially looking forward to the cheese. But when he got here, something surprised him. He enjoyed the food but found he wasn’t overeating.

For the past few months, he explains to Hannah Moore, he has been taking the weight-loss drug Ozempic. Almost 2% of the population in the US is taking it and the company behind it is worth billions. But while it’s been a big year for semaglutide weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, the changes they are making to US society are only just beginning.

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‘Serial slingshot’ suspect who terrorized California neighborhood arrested

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‘We’re not aware of any kind of motive other than just malicious mischief, say police, of 81-year-old man who was arrested

An 81-year-old man who investigators say terrorized a southern California neighborhood for years with a slingshot has been arrested, police said.

While conducting an investigation, detectives “learned that during the course of 9-10 years, dozens of citizens were being victimized by a serial slingshot shooter”, the Asuza police department said in a statement.

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Biden honors troops on Memorial Day as Trump lashes out at his ‘human scum’ enemies

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In divergent messages, president pays tribute to fallen heroes, while Trump fulminates on social media against opponents

Joe Biden and Donald Trump marked the Memorial Day national holiday honoring America’s war dead with jarringly divergent messages that promised to foretell the forthcoming US presidential election campaign as a contest of sharply contrasting characters.

In a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Biden paid tribute to the fallen as heroes who sacrificed themselves in the service of American democracy and ideals. Meanwhile, Trump, taking to his Truth Social site, took a very different tack – bestowing holiday wishes on those he branded “human scum” and accused them of trying to destroy the country.

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‘One of a kind’ NBA champion and broadcaster Bill Walton dies at 71

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  • Center won championships with Portland and Boston
  • Walton became a popular broadcaster after playing career

Hall of fame basketball star and two-time NBA champion Bill Walton has died of cancer at the age of 71, the NBA announced on Monday.

“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. His unique all-around skills made him a dominant force at UCLA and led to an NBA regular-season and Finals MVP, two NBA championships and a spot on the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.”

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At least 21 people dead as storms leave path of destruction across central US

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Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas saw hundreds injured and homes obliterated as storms move into Georgia and South Carolina

Powerful storms were moving into the eastern half of the US on Monday, after killing at least 21 people, injuring hundreds, obliterating homes, and leaving a path of destruction that spread across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas over the Memorial weekend.

As the weather system moved into Georgia, the Storm Prediction Center issued a severe thunderstorm watch for more than 7 million people in the state and South Carolina. Heavy rain is expected to drench parts of the East Coast, where damage from strong winds is also possible. Intense heat will also hit parts of the south.

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Mike Tyson ‘doing great’ after health issue on flight to Los Angeles

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Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson suffered an apparent medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on Sunday

Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson suffered an apparent medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on Sunday. The incident came in the run-up to a scheduled July bout between the 57-year-old and YouTuber turned fighter Jake Paul in Dallas.

According to In Touch Weekly, passengers heard an announcement asking for medical professionals roughly 30 minutes before the plane landed in LA. Passengers were reportedly delayed from disembarking for 25 minutes after the flight landed so paramedics could attend to Tyson.

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Johnny Wactor: General Hospital actor shot dead in suspected robbery

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37-year-old actor killed in Los Angeles early on Saturday after confronting three men allegedly attempting to steal from a vehicle

Johnny Wactor, the actor best known for his role on long-running soap opera General Hospital, has died after being shot during a suspected robbery in Los Angeles. He was 37.

His mother, Scarlett, first confirmed his death to TMZ. The Los Angeles police department later confirmed that Wactor was shot around 3am on Saturday after confronting three men who were allegedly attempting to steal the catalytic converter from a vehicle.

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Family infected with parasitic worms in US after eating bear meat, CDC says

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Six people who ate a meal in South Dakota in 2022 with black bear meat diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease

Six people who shared a meal involving black bear meat kebabs have been diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease.

In a new report released this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that in July 2022, a 29-year old hospitalized patient with suspected trichinellosis was reported to the Minnesota health department. His symptoms included fever, severe muscle aches, periorbital edema or eye swelling, and eosinophilia or the condition of elevated levels of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell.

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Republican Tim Scott falsely claims Biden policy resegregates public schools

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Possible Trump running mate makes extreme remark as former president steps up efforts to woo Black and minority voters

Donald Trump’s inner circle is stepping up efforts to woo Black and other minority voters, with a leading candidate to be his vice-presidential running mate claiming falsely on Sunday TV that Joe Biden was resegregating US public schools.

Tim Scott, the US senator from South Carolina who has been open about his desire to be on Trump’s ticket, made one of the most extreme claims yet. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union show, he described President Biden as a supporter of educational segregation.

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Five dead after powerful storms tear through rural Texan community

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Storms began on Saturday night as tornado overturned vehicles and shut down an interstate north of Dallas

A Texas sheriff has said at least five people died after powerful storms tore through a rural community, obliterating homes and leaving thousands of people without power.

The Cooke County sheriff, Ray Sappington, told the Associated Press the victims included three family members who were found in one home near Valley View, a rural community near the border with Oklahoma.

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Idaho drag performer awarded $1.1m in defamation case against far-right blogger

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A blogger falsely claimed Eric Posey exposed himself to a crowd, including children

A jury has awarded more than $1.1m to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.

The Kootenai county district court jury unanimously found that Summer Bushnell defamed Eric Posey, a resident of Post Falls, Idaho, when she posted a doctored video of his performance that included a blurred spot that she claimed covered his “fully exposed genitals”, the Coeur D’Alene Press reported.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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How Oregon’s right-to-die law has inspired other US states and countries

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More than 3,000 people have used the law, inspiring legislation in Australia and Canada and debate in the UK, France and Japan

It’s three decades since Ann Jackson voted against the first assisted-dying law in the world.

But after watching two partners succumb to cancer, and fearing the prospect of a lingering death herself as she grapples with autoimmune diseases, Jackson is now a vigorous proponent of the Oregon legislation used by thousands of people to end their own lives, and providing a blueprint for other US states and countries considering similar laws, including the UK.

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US president warns new army officers to be ‘guardians of American democracy’

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President entreats graduates at commencement to ‘hold fast’ to oath to US constitution in veiled reference to Trump’s threat to democracy

Joe Biden has called newly graduating US military officers the “guardians of American democracy” at a commencement speech in New York state, where the US president, without mentioning Donald Trump by name, gave strong warnings of unprecedented threats to US freedom.

Biden told the West Point military academy graduating class of 2024 that it is being called upon to tackle threats across the globe as well as preserve America’s ideals at home.

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‘Knight in spiny armor’: could lobsters help save Florida’s dying corals?

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A three-year study found that the spiny lobsters’ urine scared off predatory worms and snails who snack on the delicate organisms

An unexpected champion has emerged in the increasingly grave battle to save Florida’s imperiled coral reefs: spiny lobsters that urinate in the water and scare off predatory worms and snails seeking to feast on the delicate organisms.

The finding is one of the more bizarre conclusions of a three-year study by scientists from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC), who are also warning it may already be too late for some species of coral to survive without significant human assistance.

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California hospital hosts wedding so ailing dad can walk daughter down aisle

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Abraham Arceo was diagnosed with cancer a year ago, and family not sure he would make it to ceremony – until hospital intervened

Hospital staff in California helped a dying man fulfill his wish of walking his daughter down the aisle by hosting the pushed-up wedding ceremony in the facility’s chapel.

Abraham Arceo was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year ago, and his condition worsened in recent weeks to the point his family members were not sure he would make it to the planned date of his daughter Brittny’s marriage to her fiance, Alan Tran, on 28 June.

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