Category Archives: US News

US woman jailed for 26 years over mother’s suitcase murder in Bali

Posted on by

Heather Mack, 28, pleaded guilty to helping boyfriend kill Sheila Wiese-Mack in 2014 to gain access to $1.5m trust fund

An American woman who pleaded guilty to helping kill her own mother and stuffing the body in a suitcase during a luxury vacation in Bali has been sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Judge Matthew Kennelly gave Mack credit for the approximately two years she spent in custody in Chicago awaiting trial since her return to the US in 2021. Mack’s attorney Michael Leonard said her formal sentence will be about 23 years total.

Continue reading...

Light aircraft that crashed into ocean off California could be built from kit

Posted on by

Body of San Francisco woman, 27, recovered near site of crash involving single-engine plane believed to be carrying four people

A plane that crashed into ocean south of San Francisco on Sunday was a light aircraft that can be built from a kit, authorities have said.

Officials also said on Tuesday that they had identified a body that was found in the water near where the Cozy Mark IV plane crashed as a 27-year-old San Francisco resident.

Continue reading...

Ron DeSantis says Republicans will lose if Donald Trump becomes presidential nominee – US politics live

Posted on by

Florida governor says former president’s mounting legal issues will be a distraction in US 2024 elections

When E Jean Carroll first took the stand, Trump could be seen whispering to his lead attorney, Alina Habba. He sat with slightly hunched shoulders as Carroll testified.

Following Carroll’s initial remarks, one of her attorneys, Roberta Kaplan, asked the former Elle columnist questions about her career. Jurors heard how Carroll ascended from writing articles for high-profile publications to landing the columnist position, as well as a talkshow and authoring multiple books.

Continue reading...

US-bound plane returns to Tokyo after man allegedly bites flight attendant

Posted on by

Incident reportedly happened on All Nippon Airways flight with man, 55, arrested after plane brought back to Tokyo

A drunk US man allegedly bit the arm of a flight attendant on a passenger jet headed to Seattle from Tokyo on Tuesday night, forcing the plane’s return to the Japanese capital, according to local reports.

The attack happened over the Pacific Ocean on All Nippon Airways flight 118, Japan’s Kyodo News reported. Crew members restrained a 55-year-old American man accused of biting an attendant on the arm, and police arrested him after the Seattle-bound plane was brought back to Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

Continue reading...

Five people killed by tractor trailer on snowy interstate in Pennsylvania

Posted on by

Victims had got out of minivan that lost control and another vehicle in Lackawanna county before being struck

Five people were struck and killed by a tractor trailer on Interstate 81 in snowy north-eastern Pennsylvania after they had left their vehicles following another crash, state police said on Wednesday.

A minivan had lost control and hit a median on the northbound interstate in Lackawanna county at about 5.30pm on Tuesday. Four people got out of the van as well as a person who had been following them in a separate car, police said. All were hit by the passing tractor trailer.

Continue reading...

Ron DeSantis insists US is ‘not a racist country’, echoing claim by Nikki Haley

Posted on by

Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate concedes country has faced ‘challenges’ over dealing with race

The hard-right Florida governor Ron DeSantis says the US is “not a racist country”, echoing a controversial claim by Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who is also trying to deny Donald Trump the Republican presidential nomination.

“Well, the US is not a racist country,” DeSantis told a CNN town hall this week in New Hampshire. “And we’ve overcome things in our history. You know, I think the founding fathers – they established a set of principles that are universal.”

Continue reading...

Republicans’ bid to hold Hunter Biden in contempt appears to be suspended

Posted on by

New discussions with president’s son’s attorneys could lead to him testifying in the near future

Efforts by House Republicans to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress appear to be in suspension following new discussions with his attorneys that could lead to the president’s son testifying in the near future.

The development follows Biden’s surprise appearance at a congressional oversight committee meeting last week during which the Republicans complained he was refusing to make himself available in defiance of their subpoena for closed-door testimony.

Continue reading...

The Houthis and the Red Sea crisis – podcast

Posted on by

Attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by the Houthi rebel group in Yemen have been met with airstrikes from the UK and US. Patrick Wintour reports

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October and Israel’s military response in Gaza, there has been an effort by western leaders led by the US to avoid the conflict spreading to the wider region. That attempt looks increasingly tenuous now. US and UK airstrikes have targeted the Houthi rebel group in Yemen after a series of attacks by the group on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

As Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, tells Michael Safi, the Houthis say they are targeting Israeli-linked ships in an attempt to force a ceasefire. In doing so they are are positioning themselves as the foremost champions of Palestinians in the region. In reality, they have struck shipping interests beyond Israel and ignored warnings from the US to desist. Now, with Washington promising further strikes if necessary, the threat of a wider regional escalation is growing and with it the danger of a far more deadly conflict.

Continue reading…

Iowa caucuses: Asa Hutchinson suspends campaign; Haley says she’s ‘better choice for America’ – US politics live

Posted on by

Hutchinson, who came sixth in caucuses, congratulates Trump on win; Haley tries to regain momentum with attack ad on Biden and Trump

Nikki Haley has said in a new campaign advert attacking Donald Trump and Joe Biden that she is the “better choice” for America, as the former South Carolina governor tries to regain momentum after narrowly losing to Ron DeSantis in the Iowa caucuses.

Haley puts herself forward as the better choice than Biden and Trump, whom the narrator in the ad suggests “are the two most-disliked politicians in America”.

Continue reading...

US military says it seized Iranian weapons bound for Houthis

Posted on by

Search still under way for the two Seals involved in mission targeting supply of arms to Yemeni rebels

US Navy Seals boarded a boat heading for Yemen and seized Iranian-made missile components and other weaponry bound for Houthi forces, in an operation in which two Seal commandos went missing, the US military has said.

US Central Command (Centcom) posted pictures of the missile parts on X, including what appeared to be the components of a complete small missile, rocket motors and guidance systems, as well as a photograph of the small cargo vessel that was allegedly carrying the arms.

Continue reading...

Trump’s 30-point Iowa lead boosts his confidence for New Hampshire win

Posted on by

Trump’s victory in Iowa intensifies skepticism that any of his opponents will be able to overtake him in the Republican primary

Donald Trump will continue on to the New Hampshire primaries more confident than ever about capturing the Republican nomination after the former president secured a 30-point win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday.

Trump won 51% of the vote in Iowa, giving him the largest margin of victory in the history of the state’s Republican caucuses, further securing his position as the Republican frontrunner who will face President Joe Biden in November. Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, secured a distant second-place finish with 21% of the vote, while Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, trailed in third place with 19%. The entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who came in fourth, dropped out of the race following his disappointing performance, as did the former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

Continue reading...

Asa Hutchinson drops out of race for Republican presidential nomination

Posted on by

Former Arkansas governor, a stalwart conservative, was willing to sharply criticize Donald Trump

The former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, a stalwart conservative willing to sharply criticize Donald Trump, has suspended his beleaguered bid for the White House the day after the Iowa caucuses.

“My message of being a principled Republican with experience and telling the truth about the current front runner did not sell in Iowa,” he said in a statement. “I stand by the campaign I ran. I answered every question, sounded the warning to the GOP about the risks in 2024 and presented hope for our country’s future.”

Continue reading...

Alleged Long Island serial killer indicted on new murder charge of fourth victim

Posted on by

Rex Heuermann was indicted for killing Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found in marshland along Gilgo Beach

The accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann has been indicted on a new murder charge in the killing of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who investigators believe was the first of the “Gilgo Four” to be killed, according to an indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

The unsealing of the indictment came after authorities announced Heuermann would face “a major development” in the investigation of the Gilgo Beach killings, which all targeted sex workers and lay unsolved for more than a decade.

Continue reading...

Six people missing in Missouri in clutches of online cult, police say

Posted on by

Family members believed loved ones are followers of group founded by Rashad Jamal, a convicted child molester

Six people – including two children – who disappeared from their homes in eastern Missouri last summer are believed to be in the clutches of an eccentric online cult run by a convicted child molester, police say.

Family members of those missing are also convinced their loved ones are followers of a group founded by Rashad Jamal, a rapper and self-styled new age prophet serving an 18-year sentence in Georgia after his conviction in August.

Continue reading...

Democrats seize on Iowa results to campaign on threats posed by Trump

Posted on by

Kamala Harris reminds voters of Trump’s role in overturning Roe v Wade as unstated core of campaign is Biden can beat him again

Top Democrats did not react to Donald Trump’s crushing win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday with the dismay that might have been expected. Instead, the victory of the twice-impeached, 91-times criminally charged former president was heralded as an early beginning to the battle for the White House itself.

Called early, Trump’s victory came by 30 points over the hard-right Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who edged the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for second. Only one of 99 Iowa counties did not go for Trump: Johnson county, which includes the University of Iowa, was won by Haley, the relative moderate left in the race – by a single vote.

Continue reading...

Iowa caucuses 2024 live: Trump wins state as Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis vie for second and third place

Posted on by

Former US president beats Republican rivals in first state to choose their Republican candidate

Florida senator Marco Rubio formally endorsed Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign on Sunday, effectively snubbing his state’s own governor Ron DeSantis.

In a social media post, Rubio cited his work with Trump to expand child tax credit as well as sanctions placed on Cuba and Venezuela as reasons for throwing his support behind the former president. Rubio added:

I support Trump because that kind of leadership is the ONLY way we will get the extraordinary actions needed to fix the disaster Biden has created.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump wins in Iowa as first contest kicks off 2024 presidential race

Posted on by

AP called race for Trump rapidly, while caucusgoers in much of the state were still casting ballots, a sign of his wide lead in the race

Donald Trump won the US’s first election contest of 2024, easily fending off a winnowed field of Republicans who failed to gain as much traction as the cult of personality surrounding the former president.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump rapidly, while caucusgoers in much of the state were still casting ballots, a sign of the wide lead the former president has in the race.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris warns US freedom is under ‘profound threat’ in MLK Jr day speech

Posted on by

US vice-president speaks at South Carolina event honoring the civil rights leader, urging voters to ‘roll up our sleeves’

Kamala Harris issued a plea to Black voters on Martin Luther King Jr Day to join with Democrats to win the 2024 election and to stave off what she said were threats to US democracy posed by Republicans who look set to overwhelmingly back Donald Trump at their first state nomination contest today in Iowa.

The US vice-president, the headliner at the NAACP’s annual King Day at the Dome event in Columbia, South Carolina, said that freedom in the country is under “profound threat”, and cited the supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade, long lines for voting, Republican-backed book bans and the prevalence of gun violence.

Continue reading...

Vivek Ramaswamy urges supporters not to believe polls in final Iowa pitch

Posted on by

Republican presidential candidate makes final appearance in Iowa hours ahead of caucuses

Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur who has gone all in on Iowa to jumpstart his presidential bid, urged supporters not to believe the polls during a final appearance at a Cedar Rapids brewery hours ahead of Monday night’s caucuses.

Ramaswamy has visited all 99 counties in Iowa twice and even rented an apartment in Des Moines during the final stretch of the campaign. He said on Monday he had done nearly 400 events in the state.

Continue reading...

US election season begins as Iowa Republicans brave cold in first caucuses

Posted on by

Latest polls place Donald Trump as clear frontrunner for party’s nomination in first round of voting in 2024 primary

Iowa Republicans braved brutally cold temperatures on Monday evening to participate in the state’s presidential caucuses, as Donald Trump remains the clear frontrunner in the race for his party’s nomination.

The caucuses began at 7pm CT and marked the first round of voting in the 2024 presidential primary. They will offer the most tangible insight yet into whether any of Trump’s primary opponents, particularly the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and the former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, have managed to diminish his significant polling advantage in the race. Trump has maintained that advantage for months, even as he has been charged with 91 felony counts across four criminal cases.

Continue reading...