Plane landed in Wisconsin and ‘unruly passenger’ was taken into custody before flight continued to Minnesota
A United Airlines flight bound for Minneapolis from Chicago was reportedly diverted after an “unruly passenger” tried to breach the cockpit late on Friday.
The FBI and police responded to reports of a security concern with the passenger, who was detained by police at the Dane county regional airport in Madison, Wisconsin.
Continue reading...President in ‘excellent’ health, despite ‘lower leg swelling’ and hand bruising after fourth hospital visit in second term
Donald Trump has been grappling with “lower leg swelling” as well as “benign” hand bruising but remains in excellent health, the US president’s physician said in a memo released by the White House.
Citing the results of a recent examination, the memo from Dr Sean Barbabella said Trump “remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function”.
Continue reading...Endangered snow leopard had leg amputated and capybara died at Mario Tabraue’s controversial roadside facility
An endangered clouded leopard had a leg amputated and a capybara died following botched breeding attempts at a controversial Miami roadside zoo owned by a convicted drug trafficker featured in the Netflix documentary Tiger King.
Federal wildlife inspectors found multiple other violations during a March inspection at Zoological Wildlife Foundation (ZWF), including dilapidated, insecure or unsafe housing conditions for wild animals, filthy cages, and water and food contaminated with algae and dead insects.
Continue reading...The virtually indestructible Pfas waste puts largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates say
The nation’s garbage incinerators are largely failing to eliminate Pfas “forever chemicals” air pollution, and are putting people in largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates and independent experts warn.
The powerful waste management industry is increasingly pushing incinerators as a solution to virtually indestructible Pfas waste, and a new industry trade group report alleges Minnesota’s incinerators are reducing their forever chemical emissions by 99.6%. Other incinerator operators have made similar reduction claims.
Continue reading...Sobering reality for president after three-month odyssey that threatens to take him back to where he started
After the hubristic beginnings came the reality.
The road travelled since the most momentous foreign policy decision of his presidency seems to have delivered Donald Trump to a sobering destination: that Iran has been the nemesis of several US presidents before him for a reason and is an adversary not to be taken lightly.
Continue reading...Pentagon chief also tells Singapore defence summit of ‘alarm’ at China’s military buildup but says US does not seek ‘needless confrontation’
The US warned on Saturday it was “more than capable” of resuming war with Iran after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including Tehran never being able to develop nuclear weapons.
The White House had signalled Trump was close to a decision on an initial deal on Friday after weeks of mixed signals in tenuous negotiations, though Tehran denied there was a final agreement on ending the Middle East conflict that has jolted the global economy.
Continue reading...The policy memo issued last week requires many foreigners to obtain green cards through their home countries
A new policy memo issued last week by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), requiring many foreigners in the US to leave the country and obtain green cards through their home countries, has sparked confusion and fear among hundreds of thousands of visa holders and families, as well as immigration advocates and lawyers.
Multiple Guardian readers, speaking anonymously out of fear, said the memo threatens to upend lives they have spent years building in the US – from careers and homes to marriages and long-term plans for stability.
Continue reading...Ex-attorney general tells House committee she did not ‘lead every aspect’ of effort but rather delegated to Todd Blanche
Pam Bondi, the former attorney general, defended the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files under her leadership on Friday, and told lawmakers on the House oversight and reform committee that she did not “lead every aspect” of the department’s effort, but rather she delegated oversight of the process to Todd Blanche, her former deputy attorney general, who is now acting attorney general.
Democratic lawmakers also said that Bondi refused to answer questions about Donald Trump’s involvement in the release of the files.
Continue reading...Marco Rubio made announcement after meeting president’s far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro
Brazil will not be treated as a “tinpot country,” the country’s president, Luiz Inácio da Silva, said on Friday after the United States designated Brazil’s two largest criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organisations.
The announcement, made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Thursday, is being widely seen in Brazil as a setback for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president who had strongly opposed the designation – and a boost for Lula’s main challenger in October’s presidential election, the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
Continue reading...Mark Rutte says Moscow’s ‘reckless behaviour is a danger to us all’ after drone hit apartments during attack on Ukraine. Plus, Paul McCartney on how old bandmates – and Oasis – inspired his nostalgic new album
Good morning.
The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, has said the alliance is “ready to defend every inch” of its territory after a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Romania, a member state, during an overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine.
What else is happening? Sweden will donate 16 of its existing Gripen fighter jets by next year to Ukraine, which will go on to buy an initial 20 of the latest model, they announced on Thursday, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited an airbase in Uppsala, 70km (45 miles) north of Stockholm.
What did Netanyahu say? The Israeli prime minister, who is struggling for his political survival before elections in the next few months, said: “We are currently squeezing Hamas. We now control 60% of the territory in the strip. You know, we were at 50, we moved to 60. My directive is to move to … 70%.”
Continue reading...Lawmakers to have fresh chance to dig for information on Trump’s administration’s handling of issue by grilling former attorney-general
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Former attorney-general Pam Bondi is testifying before the US House oversight and reform committee, a long-awaited appearance that brings fresh scrutiny of the administration’s release of the Epstein files.
A jury in Spokane, Washington found an Afghanistan War veteran and two others guilty of federal conspiracy charges on Thursday for their part in a protest last June outside the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, said that state health inspectors were denied full access to the privately run Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, where detainees are staging a hunger and labor strike over health and sanitary conditions, and protesters rallying outside have been tased, pepper-sprayed and detained.
At least six of the nine featured musical acts recruited to play on the National Mall in Washington DC this summer, in a concert series planned by the Trump administration to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, have dropped out of the concert series, just one day after the lineup was announced.
US vice-president JD Vance on Thursday told reporters that Washington was “not there yet” with Iran but he said the parties were close, adding that the US was in a position where it could substantially set back Tehran’s nuclear program. Earlier, Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said the text of a potential memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries had not yet been finalised or confirmed.
Continue reading...US president’s move comes as both sides try to prevent fresh ceasefire breaches scuppering a potential deal
Donald Trump has circulated a draft peace agreement for the war with Iran among allies including Israel as both sides try to prevent fresh breaches of the ceasefire escalating out of control and scuppering any deal.
In an attempt to speed up the negotiations, Pakistan’s foreign minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, will fly to Washington on Friday to meet his US counterpart, Marco Rubio.
Continue reading...Central American country says its president spoke with Pete Hegseth to confirm terms of cooperation
Guatemala has requested US military cooperation spanning access to equipment, training and experts to assist Guatemalan operations against drug trafficking, the country’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, said on Thursday.
The joint plans stopped short of US military operations on Guatemalan soil and fall within existing bilateral agreements, the government noted.
Continue reading...Canada prime minister urges greater economic cooperation between the two countries in speech delivered in New York
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney has called for a new relationship with the United States to “help make America great again”.
In a speech delivered in New York on Thursday, Carney said that there should be a “true partnership” that reimagines cooperation in specific sectors challenged by global competition.
Continue reading...White House made lengthy post about gorilla shot dead at Cincinnati zoo after a toddler entered his enclosure in 2016
The White House has posted on social media a tribute to mark Thursday’s 10th anniversary of the death of a figure it called “a true patriot”.
The hero was not a human, however; it concerned the infamous case of the 400lb western lowland gorilla that had been named Harambe, which was shot dead at the Cincinnati zoo after a toddler entered his enclosure and interacted with the animal.
Continue reading...States with abortion bans are turning away from medications to a wait-and-see approach, with care falling below standards
Abortion restrictions in the US have made it more difficult to access care for miscarriages, a new study stays.
The new research found that since the June 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v Wade, pregnancy care has fractured along state lines; it’s getting increasingly harder to access healthcare for miscarriages in US states with abortion restrictions.
Continue reading...Rare albino buffalo spared due to security concerns over unusual level of public interest in 700kg animal
A rare albino buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been spared from Eid al-Adha sacrifice after a last-minute government intervention, according to a home ministry official.
The nearly 700kg (1,543lb) animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities stepped in, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest before Thursday’s festival.
Continue reading...President makes comments after reports Iran and Oman have discussed jointly charging a toll for ships. Plus, how ‘balcony solar’ could help fight rising energy costs
Good morning.
In a casual aside during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Donald Trump threatened to “blow up” Oman, a US ally, if it failed to “behave” over the reopening the strait of Hormuz.
What is the latest on a deal to end the war? Negotiations are continuing but the US earlier this week struck Iranian targets, reportedly killing four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which prompted an apparent Iranian retaliatory attack on an American airbase in Kuwait.
What is happening inside Iran? Internet restrictions were partially lifted this week, revealing increasing anger from Iranians over rapid food price inflation.
What is the humanitarian toll of the war? More than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced in the latest round of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which began in March. At least 3,213 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The office of Israel’s prime minister reported that 23 Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor had been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians had been killed in northern Israel.
What is life like inside Israel’s “yellow line”? The Guardian’s William Christou, in Kfarchouba, Lebanon, spoke to the villagers living in fear of nightly raids and daytime bombings from the Israeli military occupying their land.
Continue reading...US president tells cabinet Tehran is delaying in hope of better terms after November congressional elections
Donald Trump has accused Iran of trying to stall on making a peace agreement by running down the clock before November’s US midterm elections in the hope of getting better terms.
“They thought they were going to out-wait me, you know, ‘We’ll out wait him, he’s got the midterms,” the US president told a meeting of his cabinet at the White House on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Igor Lytvynchuk is scheduled to appear in court on charges of harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal
The lawyer for a tourist accused of hurling a rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal says his client was trying to protect sea turtles and has since been assaulted, threatened and doxed.
Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, is scheduled to appear in court in Honolulu on Wednesday on charges of harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal.
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