Category Archives: US News

The Gaza diplomacy of Biden, Sunak and co seems to be heading for failure

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The US president was empathetic, sharp and subtle, but there are signs that his closest Arab allies are losing patience

Two weeks of non-stop western shuttle diplomacy appear to have reached the brink of failure since, as it stands, the west can only point to 20 aid trucks crossing into Gaza as the visible fruit of its labour. At the same time, Israel’s neighbours are taking to the streets and acts of terrorism are returning to the capitals of Europe.

With more than 4,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis already dead, the only certainty is that Gaza’s depleted healthcare system will collapse if Israel launches a lengthy land invasion to wipe out Hamas.

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Ilhan Omar fears for family’s safety after barrage of threats over Israel criticism

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Minnesota congresswoman blames ‘dishonest smearing’ for surge in violent threats in wake of Israel-Hamas conflict

Ilhan Omar, a Muslim US representative, said she fears for her family’s safety after receiving an onslaught of threats for criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

The Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota opened up in a statement about the increase in Islamophobic remarks and threats she has received, including threats directed at her family. NBC News first reported on the statement, which was later shared with the Guardian.

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Russia working to undermine trust in elections globally, US intelligence says

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Moscow using spy network, state-run media and social media to shake confidence in democracy, report sent to 100 countries claims

Russia is using its spy network, state-run media and social media to undermine public trust in elections around the world, according to a US intelligence report that has been shared with about 100 countries.

“Russia is focused on carrying out operations to degrade public confidence in election integrity,” said the report released on Friday, citing findings from the US intelligence community.

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Hearing sheds light on how Mar-a-Lago worker implicated Trump and valet

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Details on how Yuscil Taveras became a cooperating witness against ex-president and Walt Nauta revealed for first time

When the technology director at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club implicated the former US president and his valet in a scheme to erase subpoenaed security camera footage in the classified documents case, it was the culmination of weeks of talks with prosecutors about an immunity deal.

The employee – identified as “Trump Employee 4” in the superseding indictment but named by people familiar with the matter as Yuscil Taveras – became crucial to special counsel prosecutors over several weeks in July after he decided to cooperate with the criminal investigation.

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Jim Jordan forced out of House speaker race after losing secret ballot

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Republican colleagues vote against Ohio congressman’s continued bid after his third failed attempt to corral support

Jim Jordan of Ohio was forced out of the House speakership race on Friday after his Republican colleagues voted against his continued bid for the seat in a secret ballot after his third failed attempt to corral enough support to win the gavel.

Jordan’s lost bid followed a contentious week on Capitol Hill, during which he and his allies attempted to cajole more moderate Republicans into backing Jordan.

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US mother and daughter released from Hamas captivity after Qatar brokers deal

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Hostages Judith Raanan and daughter Natalie, 17, taken via Egypt to Israeli army base to be reunited with family

A mother and daughter from Chicago who were seized during the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and held hostage in Gaza have been released after Qatar brokered negotiations with the militant group.

Natalie Raanan, 17, and her mother, Judith, 59, were transferred through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, where they were met by Israeli security forces, the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement late on Friday.

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Jim Jordan says he’s ‘going back to work’ after losing secret ballot for House speaker candidacy – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For latest reporting on Jim Jordan and the House speaker race, you can read our latest report:

The number of Republicans who show up for today’s vote will also be a factor in determining whether Jordan wins or loses.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the GOP congressman Derrick Van Orden will not be in attendance, as he’s on a trip to Israel:

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Gwyneth Paltrow hits out at ‘nepo baby’ judgment of celebrities’ children

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Actor says she hopes her children will ‘feel free to pursue exactly what they want to do’

Gwyneth Paltrow has hit out at the term “nepo baby”, calling it an “ugly moniker” and saying children of famous people should not be judged negatively.

Short for nepotism baby, the term refers to the children of celebrities who have succeeded in careers similar to those of their parents.

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Halloween-themed climate campaign aims to show horrors of methane gas

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Gas Leaks advocacy group’s ad resembling horror movie trailer is latest in broader push to counter fossil fuel industry messaging

You may have seen an unusual ad recently. It begins with an eerie, night-time shot of a house, then shows a woman in a dark kitchen heating a kettle over a gas flame.

“Home: the one place you’re supposed to be safe,” a narrator says. “But what if the danger is coming from inside the house?”

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Republicans continue effort to erode US child labor rules despite teen deaths

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Violations have soared but legislative effort to strengthen protection for young workers have received little support

Child labor violations have been soaring in the US, but efforts to render solutions through legislation have received little support, and Republicans at the state level continue pushing bills that would roll back current child labor protections.

In most recent fiscal year, the US Department of Labor wage and hour division reported 835 cases of child labor violations affecting 3,876 minors, and 688 minors employed in violation of hazardous occupation, a 283% increase since 2015. Civil penalties against employers totaled just under $4.3m.

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First Thing: Biden calls for urgent funding for Israel and Ukraine

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US president says Americans must not walk away from their role as a ‘beacon to the world’. Plus, Britney Spears details 2008 breakdown in memoir

Good morning.

Joe Biden has drawn a direct, provocative link between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on Israel as he urged Americans not to walk away from their role as “a beacon to the world”.

What did Biden say? “Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy,” said Biden, sitting at the Resolute desk with flags, family photos, gold curtains and a darkened window behind him.

What else is happening? Thirteen people, among them five children, have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Palestinian Red Crescent also said 13 people had been killed. The ministry said in a statement: “The Israeli occupation army committed a massacre from Nur Shams camp in Tulkarem during its attack yesterday, with the death toll reaching 13 martyrs, among them five children.”

What happened earlier yesterday? Earlier in the day, Jordan had briefly reversed course and backed a novel, bipartisan proposal to expand the authority of the temporary speaker, a position currently held by Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, for the next several months as Jordan worked to shore up support for his bid. But a group of hard-right conservatives revolted, calling the plan “asinine” and arguing that it would in effect cede control of the floor to Democrats.

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US university professors are tired of being Republican culture war targets

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The GOP’s fight to seize control of American colleges is leading to resignations by higher education faculty

During his 18-year tenure at Louisiana’s largest public university, journalism professor Robert Mann courted backlash for speaking out against the state’s top political leaders.

Republicans called for Mann’s firing after he criticized former governor Bobby Jindal amid the state’s 2016 budget crisis. In 2021, Mann drew the ire of Jeff Landry, then state attorney general, for a tweet lambasting Landry’s effort to block a Covid-19 vaccine mandate at Louisiana State University.

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Jim Jordan says he will seek third vote and not planning to drop out of House speaker race – live

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Jim Jordan says he plans to speak with the 20 Republicans who did not vote for him

With Sidney Powell pleading guilty, Thursday’s developments mark a significant win for Fulton county district Fani Willis who delivered a 41-count indictment against ex-president Donald Trump and his operatives earlier this year.

Here are the six counts Powell pleaded guilty to:

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North Korean IT workers sent US pay home for weapons program, says FBI

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Authorities say thousands of people dispatched by North Korea to work for US companies fed millions of dollars to missile program

Thousands of information technology workers contracting with US companies have for years secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missile program, FBI and Department of Justice officials said.

The justice department said Wednesday that IT workers dispatched and contracted by North Korea to work remotely with companies in St Louis and elsewhere in the US have been using false identities to get the jobs. The money they earned was funneled to the North Korean weapons program, FBI leaders said at a news conference in St Louis.

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US man killed by police ‘triggered’ after wrongful imprisonment, family say

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Relatives suspect Leonard Cure, 53, resisted traffic-stop arrest because of toll of 16 years in prison for crime he did not commit

The relatives of Leonard Cure, a Black man fatally shot earlier this week at point-blank range by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop, said they suspect he resisted arrest because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he did not commit.

A video was released on Wednesday by a sheriff that showed Cure, who had been released and exonerated in 2020, being shot after grabbing the officer by the neck and forcing his head backward during the traffic stop on Monday.

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Climate activists force Fed chair Jerome Powell off stage in New York

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On Thursday protesters chanted: ‘Off fossil finance!’ and held a banner reading: ‘Fed Is Burning: Money, Futures, Planet’

The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, was escorted out of an event Thursday afternoon after a group of climate protesters briefly took the stage before he was due to give a speech. He took the stage after a 15-minute delay.

At the Economic Club of New York, protesters stormed the stage holding a banner that read “Fed Is Burning: Money, Futures, Planet” and chanting “Off fossil finance!” Powell, who was on stage, briefly left the event before returning to deliver his speech as planned. Security officials cleared protesters from the room.

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Joe Biden’s warning to Israel is a nod to US failures in the ‘war on terror’

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The US response to 9/11 was dogged by a threat posed by an ill-defined enemy, which led to human rights abuses associated with Guantánamo

When Joe Biden, the US president, spoke to Israelis during his brief visit this week, he said he and “many Americans” understood “their shock, pain and rage”.

Then he added a warning. “Justice must be done. But I caution this – while you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.”

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Hundreds arrested as US Jews protest against Israel’s Gaza assault

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Protesters in Washington demand ceasefire, marking rift in community as Anti-Defamation League condemns demonstration

Leftwing Jewish activists campaigned against Israel’s bombardment and blockade of Gaza this week in Washington, culminating in protests that have seen hundreds arrested for civil disobedience outside the White House and Congress.

But groups like the Anti-Defamation League have dismissed the actions as unrepresentative of fellow Jews, signalling a growing rift in the community as the war in the Middle East continues to claim thousands of lives.

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US senators to reportedly visit Middle East to show support for Israel

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Lindsey Graham, who said he wants to see Gaza ‘levelled’, among bipartisan group expected to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt

A bipartisan congressional delegation will visit the Middle East on Friday in a high-profile gesture of support for Israel following the Hamas attacks, it was reported on Thursday.

Among the group’s most prominent members is the Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who has prompted outrage in some quarters with his aggressive criticism of Hamas combined with a seeming lack of regard for Palestinian civilian lives, saying he wants to see Gaza flattened.

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Israeli military discussing alternatives to full Gaza invasion with US, says Biden

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US officials warn that a ground assault could bring conflict with Hezbollah and risk a two-front war

Joe Biden has said that the US and Israeli militaries are discussing alternatives to the full invasion of Gaza widely expected since the Hamas attack on 7 October.

On the flight back to Washington after a day of talks in Israel, Biden was asked about the prospect of a large-scale ground assault by the 300,000-strong Israeli force arrayed along the border.

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