Category Archives: US News

Trump to appeal ruling barring him from Illinois primary ballot over January 6 role

Posted on by

Judge Tracie Porter sides with voters who sought disqualification but delays ruling from taking effect in light of expected appeal

An Illinois state judge on Wednesday barred Donald Trump from appearing on the Illinois Republican presidential primary ballot because of his role in the attack at the US Capitol on January 6, but she delayed her ruling from taking effect in light of an expected appeal by the former US president.

The Cook county circuit judge Tracie Porter sided with Illinois voters who argued that the former president should be disqualified from the state’s March 19 primary ballot and its 5 November general election ballot for violating the anti-insurrection clause of the US constitution’s 14th amendment.

Continue reading...

Judge denies Trump’s request to access secret filing in Mar-a-Lago case

Posted on by

US district judge Aileen Cannon rejects Trump’s motion to review special counsel filing on redacting classified information

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected an attempt by Donald Trump to review a sensitive court filing submitted by special counsel prosecutors that detailed their reasons for wanting to redact some of the classified documents that would be turned over to the former president in discovery.

The attempt by Trump to access the filing was a brazen move that would have defeated the purpose of rules to protect national security in Espionage Act prosecutions and potentially thrown into disarray the scope and viability of continuing the case against Trump.

Continue reading...

Pigs don’t fly: Louisiana piglet rescued after being thrown in Mardi Gras

Posted on by

Lieutenant governor ‘pardons’ animal and Republican local politician adopts it after it’s saved in New Orleans

A piglet that was rescued after being tossed like a football near a Mardi Gras event in New Orleans was “pardoned” on Wednesday and has found a permanent home with a Louisiana lawmaker.

The weeks-old pig – dubbed Earl “Piglet” Long, a play on the name of the 45th governor of Louisiana – was ceremoniously pardoned by the lieutenant governor, Billy Nungesser, on the Louisiana capitol steps.

Continue reading...

US Senate attempt to protect IVF access blocked by Mississippi Republican

Posted on by

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith rejects Access to Family Building Act, saying bill is ‘vast overreach full of poison pills’

Senate Democrats’ attempts to move forward a bill that would have granted Americans federal protections for in vitro fertilization access have failed.

The bill, sponsored by the Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth, came after a recent Alabama supreme court ruling that declared frozen embryos are children and led to the closure of multiple infertility clinics across the state.

Continue reading...

Euphoria star Hunter Schafer arrested at pro-Palestine protest during Joe Biden TV appearance

Posted on by

The 25-year-old actor was among 30 demonstrators taken into custody during Joe Biden’s appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, organisers confirmed

Euphoria actor Hunter Schafer was among dozens of protesters arrested at NBC’s headquarters in Manhattan during the president Joe Biden’s appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers earlier this week, organisers confirmed Wednesday.

The 25-year-old star was part of a group of more than 100 demonstrators who packed the lobby at 30 Rockefeller Plaza on Monday afternoon to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, the group Jewish Voice for Peace said.

Continue reading...

Trump scores another convincing win against Haley in Michigan primary

Posted on by

Defeated former South Carolina governor has pledged to stay in Republican presidential primaries at least through Super Tuesday

Donald Trump has won Michigan’s Republican primary election, the latest in a string of convincing primary victories as he closes in on the GOP presidential nomination.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump over the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley at 9pm ET.

Continue reading...

Expert testimony from Rust hearing casts doubt on Alec Baldwin’s account

Posted on by

Firearms expert says he sees no evidence gun was broken, despite actor’s claim it went off without his pulling the trigger

Courtroom testimony by an independent gun expert on Tuesday cast new doubt on Alec Baldwin’s account that his gun went off without his pulling the trigger in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a 2021 rehearsal on the set of the western movie Rust.

Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter, with a trial scheduled for July in the death of Halyna Hutchins during a movie rehearsal on the outskirts of Santa Fe.

Continue reading...

Maui wildfire survivors can apply for $175m One Ohana Fund starting 1 March

Posted on by

People who lost loved ones or were injured may be eligible for payout from fund announced Tuesday – but there’s a catch

Hawaii governor Josh Green unveiled on Tuesday a multimillion-dollar fund to compensate families of people who were killed on Maui during the deadliest wildfire in the nation in more than a century.

The announcement marks the first phase of the $175m One Ohana Fund that was proposed on 8 November, two months after at least 101 were killed in Lahaina, a coastal town on Maui. If found eligible, people who lost a loved one will receive $1.5m, and disbursements for those who survived but were gravely injured will vary, according to Green’s press release. The fund will begin accepting applications on 1 March.

Continue reading...

Texas wildfires: nuclear weapons factory shuts down amid evacuations

Posted on by

Unseasonably warm temperatures, strong winds and dry grasses fuel Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest in the state

The main facility that assembles and disassembles America’s nuclear arsenal shut down its operations on Tuesday night as fires raged out of control in Texas.

Pantex issued a statement online saying it had paused operations until further notice. “The fire near Pantex is not contained,” the company said. “Response efforts have shifted to evacuations. There is a small number of non-essential personnel sheltered on-site.”

Since 1975, Pantex has been the US main assembly and disassembly site for its atomic bombs. It assembled the last new bomb in 1991. In the time since, it has dismantled thousands of weapons. Pantex is located 30 miles (48km) east of Amarillo.

Continue reading...

Congress ‘gradually destroying’ US relations with Pacific ally, Marshall Islands president warns

Posted on by

Hilda Heine says US funding delays damage relationship with the Pacific nation as lawmakers say hold-up delivers a ‘gift’ to China

Hilda Heine, the president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, has warned relations with the US are “gradually being destroyed by party politics” as Congress delays approval of crucial funding for the Pacific nation.

US lawmakers have not yet passed funding packages agreed in 2023 with the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), in a move some argue is opening the door to China to build its influence in the Pacific region.

Continue reading...

Michigan primary 2024: track live results

Posted on by

Follow live as the state’s Republican and Democratic voters choose their preferred candidate for the US presidential election

Democrats and Republicans went to the polls on Tuesday for Michigan’s presidential primary. The critical swing state’s election will prove a test for both frontrunners, Joe Biden and Donald Trump. But a separate Republican convention held on Saturday will determine the final delegate count for the Republican party.

Here are the results from the 27 February Michigan primary:

Continue reading...

Michigan primary to test Biden and Trump among key voting groups

Posted on by

Trump faces local leaders embroiled in factional dispute, while Biden faces a campaign by antiwar activists to abandon him

Voters will make their way to the polls in Michigan today, in a presidential primary that will test how much Joe Biden and Donald Trump should be worried about winning key groups of voters for the general election in the critical swing state.

Both face challenges within their respective parties. After underperforming the polls and struggling with suburban and college-educated Republican voters in earlier primaries, Trump’s campaign in Michigan is dealing with a state Republican party whose local leaders have been embroiled in an ugly factional dispute, while Biden faces a campaign by antiwar activists to abandon him over the president’s continued support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden hopeful of Gaza ceasefire by Monday as details of proposal emerge

Posted on by

US president appears upbeat as Hamas reportedly mulls 40-day halt in fighting with Palestinian prisoners swapped for Israeli hostages

Joe Biden has said he believes a new, temporary ceasefire in Gaza is possible by next Monday, as Hamas was reportedly considering a draft agreement for a 40-day pause in fighting and the exchange of dozens of Israeli hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, according to a Reuters source.

“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet,” Biden told reporters during a visit to New York on Monday after taping an appearance on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. “My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.”

Continue reading...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of sexual assault by male music producer

Posted on by

Allegations, which rapper and mogul denies, is the latest in a series of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault

Sean Combs, the rapper and mogul known as Diddy, was sued Monday by a music producer who accused the hip-hop mogul of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to have sex with prostitutes.

The suit, filed in federal court in New York, accuses Combs of repeated instances of unsolicited groping and sexual touching. It also says the man had to work in a bathroom while Combs showered and walked around naked.

Continue reading...

Odysseus craft’s moon mission to be cut short after sideways landing

Posted on by

Intuitive Machines, private company behind lander, says mission will end after five days rather than the expected to seven to 10

Flight control engineers expect to lose contact with the private US moon lander Odysseus on Tuesday, cutting short the mission five days after its sideways touchdown, the company behind the spacecraft, Intuitive Machines, said.

It remained to be seen how much scientific data might be lost as a result of the shortened life of Odysseus, which, according to previous estimates from the company and its biggest customer, Nasa, would have otherwise operated on the moon for seven to 10 days.

Continue reading...

Elon Musk makes ‘things good’ with California bakery after $2,000 pie fiasco

Posted on by

Tesla had ditched an order for 4,000 mini pies, but the X owner paid the debt after the incident received attention

A California bakery that claimed Tesla did not pay an order worth thousands of dollars said the outstanding bill has been settled, after billionaire Elon Musk promised to “make things good” following press coverage of the incident.

Musk’s company Tesla had ditched an order for 4,000 mini pies from Giving Pies, a Black-owned bakery in San Jose, in central California, bakery owner Voahangy Rasetarinera said on the cafe’s Instagram account five days ago.

Continue reading...

Explosive device detonated outside Alabama attorney general’s office

Posted on by

Steve Marshall, state’s attorney general, says no staff or personnel injured by explosion in Montgomery on Saturday

Officials in Alabama said on Monday they had launched an investigation into the detonation of an explosive device outside the office of the state’s attorney general at the weekend.

“Thankfully, no staff or personnel were injured by the explosion. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (Alea) will be leading the investigation, and we are urging anyone with information to contact them immediately,” the attorney general, Steve Marshall, said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Alec Baldwin’s trial on involuntary manslaughter charge to begin in July

Posted on by

Jury selection for the case, stemming from the shooting on the Rust movie set, will start on 9 July and the trial the next day

A New Mexico judge has set a trial date for Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from the 2021 deadly shooting on the set of the Western movie Rust.

The scheduling order entered Monday calls for jury selection to begin 9 July, with the trial starting the following day with opening statements by special prosecutors and Baldwin’s defense attorneys. The proceedings are expected to last eight days.

Continue reading...

Biden and Trump to visit US-Mexico border on same day

Posted on by

Biden says he ‘didn’t know my good friend, apparently, is going’ as he plans Brownsville visit while Trump heads for Eagle Pass

Joe Biden and Donald Trump will both travel to the US border with Mexico on Thursday, dueling visits by the president and his probable opponent for re-election underlining the importance of immigration as an issue in the coming campaign.

Biden will visit Brownsville, Texas, in the Rio Grande valley, while his presidential predecessor will head for Eagle Pass, about 325 miles distant.

Continue reading...

Senior Republican who called Trump ‘inexcusable’ endorses him for president

Posted on by

Senator John Thune previously denounced Trump for role in Capitol attack in 2021 but now vows to back him in 2024 election

The No2 Republican in the US Senate, John Thune of South Dakota, endorsed for president Donald Trump – the man he previously called “inexcusable” for seeking to overturn the 2020 election and inciting the deadly January 6 attack on Congress.

Multiple media outlets reported Thune’s endorsement. They also swiftly pointed out statements made by Thune after the 2021 US Capitol attack, now linked to nine deaths, more than 1,200 arrests and hundreds of convictions, some for seditious conspiracy.

Continue reading...