Category Archives: US News

Nikki Haley: Trump spends more time ‘ranting’ than fighting for American people

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Republican candidate attacks Trump for being more concerned with himself than with country ahead of South Carolina primary

Nikki Haley pressed her case on Sunday to become the Republican presidential nominee by launching a sharp attack on her rival Donald Trump as a candidate who is set to spend more time in court than on the campaign trail this year and is intent on ranting about his own supposed victimhood rather than fighting for the American people.

With less than three weeks to go before the Republican primary in her home state of South Carolina, which many observers see as the former governor and UN ambassador’s last stand, Haley attacked Trump for being more concerned with himself than with the future of the country. She told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning TV show that his multiple court cases, in which he faces 91 charges across four criminal cases, amounted to a “real issue”.

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Overnight Israeli airstrikes kill scores in Gaza as fears grow of push into Rafah

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More than 127 reportedly killed in bombings, including in Rafah where more than a million people are sheltering

Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed scores of people overnight, as fears grow of the military campaign intensifying in the southern city of Rafah, a tiny pocket of the territory where more than a million people are sheltering.

Amid intensifying divisions in Israel’s government over the war, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was expected to arrive in the region on Sunday, his fifth trip since the militant group attacked Israel on 7 October, killing at least 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.

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CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’

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Insiders say pressure from the top results in credulous reporting of Israeli claims and silencing of Palestinian perspectives

CNN is facing a backlash from its own staff over editorial policies they say have led to a regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the censoring of Palestinians perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza.

Journalists in CNN newsrooms in the US and overseas say broadcasts have been skewed by management edicts and a story-approval process that has resulted in highly partial coverage of the Hamas massacre on 7 October and Israel’s retaliatory attack on Gaza.

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‘Making Donald Trump a loser again’: Biden wins big in South Carolina

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President derided Trump after easily winning first primary contest for Democratic presidential nomination

President Joe Biden won his first official primary election in a season that has become increasingly predictable with each contest.

Biden and the Democratic National Committee had successfully lobbied to thwart tradition and designate South Carolina the first contest for the party’s presidential nomination instead of Iowa and New Hampshire. On Saturday, Biden handily won more than 95% of the vote in the state that had launched his campaign in 2020. Long-shot candidates Dean Phillips, a congressman from Minnesota, and Marianne Williamson, a self-help author, trailed far behind.

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‘The weirdest campaign’: South Carolina delivers a win, but Biden still faces an uphill path

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The president’s decisive victory in the first Democratic primary belies a difficult campaign ahead with various strikes against him

Surprise! Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina with a high-90s percentage that would make even Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un blush.

But despite the low energy and low turnout, there was a wider narrative on Saturday about representation, the changing face of the US and a rebuke to the white identity politics of Donald Trump.

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Biden hails South Carolina primary win, saying voters put him on path to ‘making Donald Trump a loser again’ – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. You can read the full story and see the latest live results below:

In a statement released by his campaign, Joe Biden cast his victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary as an important step in defeating Donald Trump in the November presidential election:

In 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the Presidency again – and making Donald Trump a loser – again.

When I was elected President, I said the days of the backbone of the Democratic Party being at the back of the line were over. That was a promise made and a promise kept. Now, you are First In The Nation.

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Biden wins South Carolina Democratic primary for presidential nomination

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The president easily swept past his opponents Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson to gain the state’s nod for the nomination

President Joe Biden has again won the South Carolina presidential primary, his first formal primary win of the election season.

Amid low voter turnout, the Associated Press projected that Biden also won all 55 of the state’s Democratic delegates. Another seven delegates are pledged by party leaders and elected officials, such as South Carolina’s lone Democratic congressman, Jim Clyburn. Neither Dean Phillips, the congressman from Minnesota, nor author Marianne Williamson received at least 15% of the statewide vote or 15% of the vote in any congressional district, the threshold necessary to win delegates.

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US and UK hit 30 Houthi targets to further weaken Iran-backed groups

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Joint operation to further disable militias follows attacks on US and international interests amid war in Gaza

The United States and Britain struck at least 30 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday in another wave of assaults meant to further disable Iran-backed groups that have attacked US and international interests in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Ships and fighter jets on Saturday launched strikes against the Houthis. It followed an air assault in Iraq and Syria on Friday targeting other Iran-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops – William Jerome Rivers, Kennedy Ladon Sanders and Breonna Alexsondria Moffett – in Jordan last weekend.

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South Carolina Democratic primary 2024: track live results

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Follow live as the state’s Democratic voters choose their preferred candidate for the US elections

The South Carolina Democratic primary took place on 3 February, and was chosen by the Democratic National Committee as the first election contest in the 2024 election year. Joe Biden is the clear frontrunner in the primary and hopes to recapture the enthusiasm that launched his campaign in 2020.

The polls closed at 7pm.

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US House to vote next week on standalone $17.6bn bill for aid to Israel

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Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing for the package without addressing aid to Ukraine or security for the US-Mexico border

The US House of Representatives plans to vote next week to advance $17.6bn in military aid to Israel without any accompanying spending cuts or assistance for Ukraine, according to Mike Johnson, the chamber’s speaker.

Johnson announced to his fellow House Republicans on Saturday that the vote would take place, while also criticizing a parallel move in the US Senate to pair funding for Israel in its military strikes in Gaza with aid for Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion. The Senate measure also aims to attach a raft of tough border and asylum measures favored by rightwingers to aid for Israel.

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Goose is at center of deadly medical helicopter crash

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All three people on board, including the pilot, a flight nurse and a paramedic, were killed on 20 January in western Oklahoma

A dead goose was found in part of the flight control system of a medical helicopter that crashed in western Oklahoma, killing all three people on board, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

While it highlights the goose’s presence on board, the report stops short of specifying a suspected cause of the deadly crash. The report notes that other geese were found in the debris field left by the wreck.

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Oklahoma rattled by 5.1 magnitude earthquake

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Initial earthquake followed by at least eight smaller ones as residents across state reported feeling shaking

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook an area near Oklahoma’s capital late Friday night, followed by smaller quakes during the next several hours, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The agency said the earthquake struck at 11.24pm and was centered 8kms (5 miles) north-west of Prague, Oklahoma, about 57 miles(92km) east of Oklahoma City.

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US strikes will have disastrous consequences for region, warns Iraq

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Attacks on Friday also described as ‘a strategic mistake’ by Iran, which insisted no Revolutionary Guards were present in areas hit

The US reprisal strikes in Syria and Iraq will have disastrous consequences for the region, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has warned. Maj Gen Yahya Rasool’s response was one of many from inside the Iraqi government that furiously condemned a violation of its sovereignty.

The US military launched airstrikes on Friday against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs, in retaliation for last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops. Iraq’s Anbar Operations Command reported 16 fatalities and 25 injuries, but no official death toll has been issued.

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‘It’s scratching, dude’: US Coast Guard inspectors rescue stowaway dog from shipping container

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During a routine day at the Port of Houston, four marine inspectors heard barking from amid 10,000 containers

It was just another routine day of inspecting shipping containers at the Port of Houston for US Coast Guard officer Ryan McMahon when he and his team thought they heard barking coming from inside one of the thousands of containers that surrounded them.

“Oh, it’s scratching, dude,” one of the inspectors said on a video they recorded Wednesday morning as the team looked up at the container, stacked about 25ft (8 metres) in the air.

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Doctors fighting US opioid epidemic say insurance barrier impedes treatment

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Prior authorization requires permission to be sought before prescribing critical drugs, which could cost lives, doctors say

In the midst of the worst overdose epidemic in US history, addiction medicine specialists say a bureaucratic hurdle is adding to the difficulty of getting people in treatment: an insurance industry tactic called “prior authorization”.

Loathed by doctors of all stripes, prior authorization requires healthcare providers to seek permission from insurance companies before they prescribe a treatment. Doctors in addiction medicine said the requirement is both unnecessarily burdensome and could cost lives.

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Biden poised for boost as Democratic primaries begin in South Carolina

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State holds party’s first official primary under new schedule, with president polling at 70%

Joe Biden aims to build on recent momentum on Saturday, when South Carolina officially launches the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The US president received a boost last month when he won an unsanctioned primary election in New Hampshire without even appearing on the ballot. A grassroots write-in campaign ensured that he brushed aside his challengers Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson.

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Houthis face ‘further consequences’, Austin says after latest strikes – as it happened

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This blog is closed. You can find all our Middle East coverage here

At least 13 Iranian-backed fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

The airstrikes destroyed 17 positions sheltering Iranian militias in Al-Mayadeen and Al-Bokamal near the border between Syria and Iraq, in addition to airstrikes targeting positions near Deir ez-Zor city, it said.

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US retaliatory airstrikes on targets in Iraq and Syria will not be the last

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The carefully planned raids were the largest yet against Iran’s proxies and are likely to continue until threats to US personnel are neutralised

US retaliation, when it came, was broad and deep, and telegraphed five days in advance.

The White House, the Pentagon and state department had spent the best part of a week talking about the response to Sunday’s drone attack on a US base in northern Jordan, which killed three Americans and wounded more than 30.

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Wayne Kramer, co-founder of rock band MC5, dies aged 75

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Guitarist helped to give Detroit band their powerful, politically charged sound and continued their legacy into the 21st century

Wayne Kramer, the guitarist who co-created MC5 – one of the rawest, most influential and politically engaged bands in US history – has died aged 75. His Instagram page announced the news: “Wayne S Kramer. Peace be with you. April 30 1948 – February 2 2024.”

Born and raised in Detroit, Kramer teamed with teenage friend and fellow guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, each of them influenced as much by free jazz as they were by R&B and rock’n’roll. Along with the frontman Rob Tyner, they made MC5 into an incendiary force in their city’s music scene, alongside peers such as the Stooges.

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You need to calm down: Taylor Swift can fly from Tokyo to Super Bowl in time, says Japan embassy

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Singer should be able to see boyfriend Travis Kelce in person despite 17-hour time change and 12-hour flight, embassy says

Japan’s embassy in Washington has assured an angsty public that Taylor Swift should make it to the Super Bowl in time to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the big game – as long as her post-concert flight from Tokyo leaves on time.

The embassy’s Friday statement answered a question weighing on the minds of the pop star’s multitude of fans, who wondered if it was even logistically possible for her to be in position to cheer on Kelce in person as he seeks a third NFL championship with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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