Category Archives: US News

US prisoners who did not consent to ivermectin Covid treatment win payout

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Prisoners in Arkansas settle lawsuit for $2,000 each after accusing Washington county detention center of ‘medical experimentation’

The four Arkansas prisoners who sued their jail over allegations they knowingly prescribed them ivermectin to treat Covid without consent have settled the dispute for $2,000 each.

The quartet previously said they were administered the drug as a form of “medical experimentation” without prior informed consent or knowledge of the drug’s contents and potential side effects. Instead, the doctor at the jail told them they received “vitamins, antibiotics, and/or steroids”.

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Biden says Americans among hostages in Gaza and reaffirms support for Israel – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For our latest reporting on Israel-Hamas war, you can read our live coverage here.

Special counsel for the federal January 6 case has also requested that Trump be restricted from doing juror research and publishing the identities of jurors, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports.

The request is, in part, because of Trump’s previous use of social media to “attack others”, argued the special counsel.

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Russia fails to win back seat on human rights council after UN vote

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Country was suspended from body last year after Ukraine invasion but scale of support for readmittance will worry Kyiv and allies

Russia has been defeated in its attempt to regain a seat in the UN’s top human rights body by a significant majority at the general assembly, which voted last year to suspend Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia was competing against Albania and Bulgaria for two seats on the Geneva-based human rights council representing the East European regional group.

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Sam Bankman-Fried trial: ex-girlfriend says he directed her to commit crimes

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Caroline Ellison, who dated Bankman-Fried for ‘a couple of years’, tells court that he ‘directed me to commit these crimes’

On the fifth day of Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial, the prosecution’s star witness named the FTX founder as the ringleader of a $10bn fraud scheme at the cryptocurrency exchange and its associated hedge fund.

“While you were working at Alameda, did you commit any crimes?” a prosecutor asked Caroline Ellison.

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Indigenous Amazonians urge Brazil to declare emergency over severe drought

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Drought and heatwave has killed fish in rivers as Indigenous group Apiam says villagers have no water, food or medicine

Indigenous people in the Amazon are calling on the Brazilian government to declare a climate emergency as their villages have no drinking water, food or medicine due to a severe drought that is drying up rivers vital for travel in the rainforest.

The drought and heatwave has killed masses of fish in the rivers that Indigenous people live off and the water in the muddy streams and tributaries of the Amazon river has become undrinkable, the umbrella organization Apiam that represents 63 tribes in the Amazon said on Tuesday.

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Former Maryland governor Larry Hogan doesn’t rule out presidential run

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Republican says party is ‘a train wreck’ after Matt Gaetz initiates removal of Kevin McCarthy from House speaker

The former Maryland governor Larry Hogan said he had not ruled out a presidential run, as he contemplated the “train wreck” his Republican party had become amid infighting in Congress and the ascendancy in primary polling of the 91-times criminally charged Donald Trump.

Hogan also called the Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, the instigator of last week’s historic removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the US House, “a cancer on the party and on the Congress”.

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Louisiana principal apologizes for punishing student’s off-campus dancing

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Public school principal reinstates 17-year-old’s leadership role and scholarship endorsement and requests leave for rest of school year

A Louisiana public school principal has apologized and requested leave for punishing a student and questioning her religious beliefs after he saw a video of her dancing at an off-campus party.

The 17-year-old student government president and scholarship candidate was videotaped dancing at an off-campus party following Walker High School’s 30 September homecoming festivities. A hired DJ took the video and posted it on social media. Three days later, Jason St Pierre, principal of the public high school near the state capital of Baton Rouge, told the student she would be removed from her position with the student government association and that he would no longer recommend her for college scholarships.

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Mummified US man finally given proper burial after 128 years on display

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James Murphy, nicknamed ‘Stoneman Willie’ because of hard skin from experimental embalming, has been ‘gawked at long enough’

The mummified remains of a petty thief nicknamed Stoneman Willie have been laid to rest in Pennsylvania, concluding a fascinating and somewhat macabre episode stretching back 128 years.

Willie, whose real name was revealed to be James Murphy at his burial in Reading, 60 miles north-west of Philadelphia, on Saturday. He was embalmed shortly after his death in 1895 by a mortician experimenting with new preservation techniques.

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At least 11 US citizens killed in Hamas attacks on Israel, Biden says

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Death toll up to 800, including French, Argentinian, Thai and Nepalese, with at least 10 UK citizens reportedly dead or missing

At least 11 US citizens were among those killed in the Hamas onslaught on Israel at the weekend, Joe Biden said on Monday, as the death toll in Israel rose above 800.

As it became clear that the dead included people from different backgrounds and originally from countries other than Israel, the BBC reported that at least 10 British citizens were dead or missing. France confirmed the deaths of two of its citizens, and there were reports that as many as nine French people were missing, dead or taken hostage. German citizens are also thought to have been killed or kidnapped.

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Robert F Kennedy Jr announces independent run for president; siblings condemn his ‘perilous’ campaign – as it happened

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Robert F Kennedy Jr is expected to announce his independent run for US president at 12.00 pm ET in Philadelphia.

The 69-year-old has spent several months running for the Democratic nomination for the country’s highest office. He is the only challenge to Biden, who has a majority of the support within Democratic party.

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Nun accuses Louisiana of blocking death row clemency appeals in lawsuit

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Sister Helen Prejean, known for 1995 film Dead Man Walking, accues board of pardons of breaking state’s public meetings law

Sister Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun and anti-death penalty advocate, is accusing Louisiana’s board of pardons of breaking the state’s public meetings law to effectively delay clemency petitions for death row inmates.

The action pits the 84-year-old sister, who came to prominence as the author of the book behind the 1995 film Dead Man Walking, against Louisiana’s far-right attorney general, Jeff Landry. Landry is part of a legal effort seeking to block the pardon board from hearing mass clemency petitions.

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Robert F Kennedy Jr’s siblings condemn his ‘perilous’ presidential campaign

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Independent candidate’s three sisters and brother post joint statement denouncing his run as ‘dangerous to our country’

Robert F Kennedy Jr’s run for the White House as an independent candidate is “perilous” for the US, his siblings said in a statement on Monday, immediately following their brother’s campaign launch in Philadelphia.

“The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country,” said sisters Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend; and brother Joseph P Kennedy II in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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California governor vetoes bill that would have set a $35 cap for insulin

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Bill denial for the prescription drug price cap called ‘a major setback’ for diabetics in the state

Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have stopped insurance companies from charging more than $35 for insulin.

The bill would have banned health plans and disability insurance policies from imposing any out-of-pocket expenses on insulin prescription drugs above $35 for a 30-day supply. That would have included deductibles and co-pays.

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‘Just joy’: Greta Gerwig discusses reaction to Barbie at London film festival

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Director recalls enjoyment of making highest-grossing film of the year and says she was ‘so moved’ by response

Greta Gerwig has spoken of her “thrill” at the “incredible reaction” to Barbie, her existential comedy and the runaway hit film of the year.

Talking to Succession and Peep Show co-creator Jesse Armstrong at an audience during the London film festival at the BFI Southbank, Gerwig, 40, recalled standing covertly at the back of cinemas in New York during the film’s opening weekend, asking the projectors to “turn up the volume” and being “so moved” by the warmth of audience response.

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Top Republican urges party to end ‘civil war’ and elect House speaker this week

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Texas congressman Mike McCaul calls on House to unify and ‘move quickly’ because ‘we cannot paralyze democracy’

Republicans in Washington need to elect a new speaker “this week” and end the party’s “civil war” in the House that is sending a message to the world of dysfunction, especially amid the conflict unfolding in Israel, a senior GOP figure said on Sunday.

The Texas Republican congressman Mike McCaul, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, urged his own party in the House to unify because “we have got to move quickly, we cannot paralyze democracy, especially when we have hotspots all over the world… and I’m just worried about the messaging this sends.”

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Biden to announce new military aid to Israel after Hamas attack, Blinken says

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US secretary of state also confirms that American citizens are among those killed and taken hostage

The Biden administration is preparing to send additional military assistance to Israel to ensure it has all it needs to rebuff the Hamas attack from Gaza, the US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Sunday, as he confirmed that American civilians were among those killed and taken hostage.

Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union, Blinken said that extra help for Israel was likely to be announced by the end of the day. He said the US government had received reports of “several Americans” killed in the fighting, as well as “reports of missing Americans”.

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‘They didn’t stand up to Trump’: how the Republican party descended into disarray

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The GOP was once feared for its ability to unite and win – but Kevin McCarthy’s demise shows a party deeply divided

They are fresh-faced, suited and booted, the National Mall behind them and the world at their feet. Congressmen Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan smile out from the cover of Young Guns, their co-authored 2010 book about the next generation of conservatives. “This isn’t your grandfather’s Republican party,” said publicity material at the time.

Thirteen years later, the trio is neither young nor the future. Cantor (“the leader”) became Republican leader in the House of Representatives but lost his seat to a nascent rightwing populism. Ryan (“the thinker”) became speaker but retired early to escape a toxic political relationship with President Donald Trump. And this week McCarthy (“the strategist”) was ousted by some of the extremists he helped elect to Congress but could not tame.

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Shot 14 times, no charges for police: family’s grief over death of Cop City activist

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Manuel Paez Terán, known as ‘Tortuguita’ was isolated and alone as police shot him dead – and his family and friends say the full story is being kept from them

Manuel Paez Terán’s last word was: “Help.” It wasn’t spoken; it was sent by text. From another location in the same forest where Paez Terán – or “Tortuguita”– was camping in a tent, someone texted back: “What do you need?”

Seconds later, Tortuguita – Spanish for “Little Turtle”– was dead. Six Georgia state patrol troopers shot Paez Terán with at least 14 bullets, leaving 57 wounds. The 26-year-old had been sleeping in tents and tree houses in a public park for months, along with dozens of other “forest defenders” in protest against a $90m police and fire department training center known as “Cop City”, planned for another part of the forest less than a mile away.

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Ban on caste discrimination deemed ‘unnecessary’ by California governor

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Activists in the state are dealt a blow as Gavin Newsom says the state’s laws already offer civil rights protections

California activists against caste discrimination faced a defeat on Saturday as Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill that would add caste to a list of protected categories under the state’s existing anti-discrimination laws.

In a statement, Newsom called the bill “unnecessary”, explaining that California “already prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics, and state law specifies that these civil rights protections shall be liberally construed”.

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California nearly decriminalizes psychedelics – but governor hits brakes

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Gavin Newsom vetoes measure, saying state must set up thorough guidelines for treatment before he is willing to sign

California will have to put more work into decriminalizing hallucinogens before Governor Gavin Newsom will sign a bill, said a statement from the governor on Saturday, announcing that the bill had been vetoed.

The rejected law, which was anticipated to take effect in 2025, would have done away with criminal penalties for people possessing natural psychedelics for personal use. It also would have required the state to form a group to study and make recommendations about the drugs’ therapeutic use.

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