Category Archives: US News

First Thing: Trump allegedly shared sensitive information with Australian billionaire

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Member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort allegedly passed on submarine details to former Australian PMs and journalists. Plus, US influencers fear bedbug infestation from Paris fashion week

Good morning.

Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with an Australian billionaire, Anthony Pratt, three months after leaving office, according to a new report.

When did the conversation happen? ABC said Trump spoke to Pratt at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in April 2021.

Did Pratt share the information? Pratt then allegedly shared the information about submarines “within minutes”, shocking a Trump employee who heard him. Pratt, the ABC report alleged, went on to share the information with at least 45 people, including his own employees, journalists, foreign and Australian officials “and three former Australian prime ministers”.

What does Mohammad win? She will be awarded a gold medal, a diploma and 11m Swedish krona.

Why is Iran in the news again? Iranian opposition figures have demanded the release of complete CCTV footage of an incident in which a 16-year-old girl, now in a coma, collapsed after allegedly encountering hijab police on the Tehran metro. Armita Geravand is still in hospital after the incident on Sunday.

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Shell called out for promoting fossil fuels to youth via Fortnite game

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Climate activists condemn oil giant for paying influencers to showcase marketing game from new gasoline campaign

Climate activists are calling out Shell for partnering with popular video gamers and online youth influencers to promote fossil fuels to a younger generation.

The oil giant, which in July reported quarterly profits of more than $5bn (£3.9bn), worked with Fortnite creators and paid popular gamers on multiple platforms to showcase its “ultimate road trips” promotion, part of a marketing campaign for a new gasoline it calls V-Power Nitro+.

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Donald Trump allegedly shared potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt

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Anthony Pratt, a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, allegedly shared submarine details with former Australian PMs and journalists, according to media reports

Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with an Australian billionaire, Anthony Pratt, three months after leaving office, according to a new report.

Citing a source with knowledge of the Australian’s account to investigators for the special counsel Jack Smith, US news outlet ABC News reported an “excited” Trump allegedly discussed “the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads [US submarines] routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected”.

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New York man pleads not guilty to stalking woman by plane for four years

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Authorities also allege Michael Arnold threw tomatoes from the plane as he flew low over village where woman lived

A New York man has pleaded not guilty to charges of stalking a woman by flying his small plane over her home.

Michael Arnold, 65, was arraigned in southern Vermont – where he kept his plane – on charges of aggravated stalking, violating an abuse prevention order, resisting arrest, impeding a public officer and providing false information to police.

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Memorial honors trailblazing senator Dianne Feinstein: ‘She was a lioness’

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Kamala Harris and mayor London Breed make remarks in a private service as mourners pay their respects at San Francisco’s city hall

At a memorial for Dianne Feinstein on Thursday, Joe Biden praised the late senator as a dear friend and a woman of deep integrity who fought to protect what was important to the US: freedom, civil liberties, security and the constitution.

“She was always tough, prepared, rigorous, compassionate. She always served the people of California and our nation for the right reasons,” Biden said in recorded video remarks played at the memorial outside San Francisco city hall.

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Elon Musk under investigation by US agency for $44bn takeover of Twitter

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Securities and Exchange Commission inquiring whether Musk broke federal law in 2022 when he bought stock in the platform

Elon Musk is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over his $44bn takeover of social media giant Twitter, it was revealed on Thursday.

The investigation concerns whether Musk broke federal securities laws in 2022 when he bought stock in Twitter, which he later renamed X, as well as statements and SEC filings he made about the deal.

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US shoots down Turkish drone flying near its troops in Syria

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Turkey’s defence ministry says the device did not belong to the country’s armed forces

The US has shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of its Nato ally.

A Turkish defence ministry official said the drone did not belong to the Turkish armed forces, but did not say whose property it was.

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Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions committed while in office, lawyers argue

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Lawyers say ‘allegedly improper’ behavior by president falls within ‘outer perimeter’ of duties and is protected from prosecution

Lawyers for Donald Trump have urged a federal judge to dismiss the criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, advancing a sweeping interpretation of executive power that contends that presidents cannot face prosecution for any conduct they engaged in while in office.

The request to throw out the indictment, handed up earlier this year by a federal grand jury in Washington, amounts to the most consequential court filing in the case to date and is almost certain to precipitate a legal battle that could end up before the US supreme court.

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Gynecologist accused of sexual abuse at a California university found dead

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George Tyndall, 76, was awaiting trial on more than two dozen criminal counts of misconduct at University of Southern California

The former University of Southern California campus gynecologist at the center of more than $1bn worth of university payouts stemming from sexual abuse allegations by hundreds of women was found dead inside his home Wednesday, his lawyer said.

George Tyndall, 76, was awaiting trial on more than two dozen criminal counts of sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2016 at the university’s student health center. He pleaded not guilty in 2019 and was free on bond ahead of a trial that had not yet been scheduled. His lawyer, Leonard Levine, confirmed his death Thursday.

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FTX co-founder testifies he committed crimes with Sam Bankman-Fried

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Gary Wang, who previously pleaded guilty to his role in FTX’s downfall, is testifying under a plea agreement

Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto fraud trial gained steam on Thursday when the co-founder of his fallen exchange, Gary Wang, took the stand as a government witness in Manhattan federal court.

His testimony came as the highly anticipated trial entered its third day. Bankman-Fried faces seven counts on fraud and conspiracy charges in relation to the implosion of his crypto exchange FTX and its related hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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US set to resume deportation flights for Venezuelan migrants

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Officials tell AP process expected to begin shortly but decline to provide more details before announcement of government plan

The Biden administration is going to resume deporting migrants to Venezuela, two US officials told the Associated Press on Thursday.

The process is expected to begin shortly, the officials said, though they did not provide specific details on when the flights would begin taking off. The officials were not authorized to publicly disclose details of the government’s plan ahead of an official announcement and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

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New York City subway shooter sentenced to life in prison

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Frank James pleaded guilty earlier this year to terrorism charges in April 2022 shooting in Brooklyn

A man who sprayed a New York City subway car with bullets during rush hour, wounding 10 people and sparking a citywide manhunt, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.

Frank James, 64, pleaded guilty earlier this year to terrorism charges in the 12 April 2022 mass shooting aboard a Manhattan-bound train. He received a life sentence on 10 counts and 10 years for an 11th count.

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Group uses billboards and banners to expose Nebraska’s anti-abortion laws

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Free & Just uses signs referring to Jessica and Celeste Burgess, who received prison sentences after procuring and using abortion pills

Over the last week, if Nebraskans on their commute looked up, they might have glimpsed a striking banner flying through the sky – a red, black and white flag that read: “Extremist groups don’t want you to know women are going to jail under Nebraska’s abortion ban.”

The banner is the work of Free & Just, an abortion rights organization that, over the past few months, has launched a campaign that publicizes the case of Jessica Burgess and her teenage daughter Celeste Burgess, who were jailed last year after police accused Jessica of giving abortion pills to Celeste. Celeste Burgess was sentenced to 90 days in jail, while Jessica Burgess has been sentenced to two years in prison.

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Man brings loaded handgun to Wisconsin capitol seeking governor

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Man who demanded to see Tony Evers returned at night with an assault rifle after posting bail, police say

A man illegally brought a loaded handgun into the Wisconsin capitol, demanding to see Governor Tony Evers, and returned at night with an assault rifle after posting bail, police said Thursday.

The man, who was shirtless and had a holstered handgun, approached the governor’s office on the first floor of the capitol around 2pm Wednesday, state department of administration spokesperson Tatyana Warrick said.

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US representative files resolution decrying rightwing calls for invasion of Mexico

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Joaquin Castro urged fellow House members to reject Republican calls for US military action to stem flow of fentanyl from Mexico

A progressive US congressman from Texas has asked his legislative colleagues to join him in condemning some American conservatives’ calls to invade Mexico – ostensibly to do battle with drug cartels there.

Joaquin Castro says he intends to file a resolution in the US House as soon as Friday reaffirming the federal government’s “commitment to respecting the sovereignty of Mexico and condemning calls for military action without Mexico’s consent and congressional authorization”.

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Menendez’s alleged sharing of information with Egypt risked lives of US embassy staff, ex-US official says

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Former diplomat said senator’s allegedly corrupt actions could have put embassy staff in the sights of Egyptian intelligence

The lives of staff at the US embassy in Cairo may have been put in jeopardy by the indicted Democratic senator Bob Menendez’s alleged sharing of sensitive personnel information with the Egyptian government, according to former senior US officials who said the charges represented a grave betrayal of trust.

The New Jersey senator temporarily stepped down from his powerful position as chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee in September after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in New York on corruption charges, including allegations that he accepted cash bribes and gold bars in exchange for breaching his duties “in ways that benefited the government of Egypt”.

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Newborn dead, multiple people injured in Holyoke, Massachusetts, shooting

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Gunfire from fight hit several people, including pregnant woman who was hospitalized and delivered baby who died

A shooting claimed the life of a baby that was delivered after its mother was one of several people hit by gunfire during a fight Wednesday on a downtown street in the western Massachusetts city of Holyoke, authorities said.

The pregnant woman was shot in the afternoon while seated on a public bus and taken to a hospital in critical condition, the Hampden district attorney’s office said.

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Biden ‘worried’ that turmoil in Washington could disrupt US aid to Ukraine

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President speaks after the ousting of House speaker Kevin McCarthy, but German Chancellor remains ‘very convinced’ US will continue to support Kyiv

US president Joe Biden admitted Wednesday he was worried that political turmoil in Washington could threaten US aid to Ukraine, urging Republicans to stop their infighting and back “critically important” assistance for Kyiv.

Biden said that he would soon be giving a major speech on the need to support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion after the chaos in Washington alarmed US allies.

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Biden cancels additional $9bn in student loan debt

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President’s latest approval brings total debt cancellation under his administration to $127bn for nearly 3.6 million people

President Joe Biden has announced an additional 125,000 people have been approved for student debt relief in a total of $9bn.

Biden’s latest approval brings the total approved debt cancellation under his administration to $127bn for nearly 3.6 million Americans, the White House said in a statement.

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Rightwing group behind regressive US state laws to face protest at DC gala

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Rights groups to rally outside event, calling on corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council

A broad coalition of opponents to the rightwing corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will hold a rally on Wednesday night outside a glitzy gala event to celebrate the secretive group’s 50th anniversary.

Environmentalists, gun reform campaigners, union leaders and voting rights activists will protest outside the $750-a-ticket event at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, calling on corporations to cut ties with Alec – a tax-exempt group behind a slew of regressive state laws including the stand your ground gun legislation, right-to-work labor policies and so-called critical infrastructure protections that criminalize protest against fossil fuel polluters.

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