Category Archives: US News

‘I wouldn’t give him a nickel’: one-time Giuliani donors rule out legal aid

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Billionaire Leon Cooperman, who backed Giuliani’s 2008 White House bid, says he won’t help with legal fees – and he’s not alone

As he attempts to meet mounting legal fees incurred in large part through his work for Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani will reportedly not get “a nickel” from one billionaire who backed his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination – or, apparently, much from many others previously big donors.

“I wouldn’t give him a nickel,” the investor Leon Cooperman told CNBC. “I’m very negative on Donald Trump. It’s an American tragedy. [Rudy] was ‘America’s mayor’. He did a great job. And like everybody else who gets involved with Trump, it turns to shit.”

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Tennessee woman wins record for world’s longest female mullet

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Tami Manis wins Guinness world record for her 5ft 8in mullet after going 33 years without a haircut

What does one get by going 33 years without a haircut? Tennessee’s Tami Manis knows – the world record for longest mullet on a female.

Manis, 58, spoke on Thursday about her path to clinching what is arguably one of the most unusual marks maintained by Guinness world records. In an interview published by the organization known for curating a database of more than 40,000 world records, she revealed how the music video for the 1985 song Voices Carry by the rock band ‘Til Tuesday inspired her to begin growing her hair particularly long in the back.

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JPMorgan allegedly processed more than $1bn for Epstein over 16 years

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Lawyers for US Virgin Islands claimed the bank reported the transactions as suspicious to the treasury following his death

A lawyer for the US Virgin Islands said on Thursday that JPMorgan Chase told US authorities it processed more than $1bn for Jeffrey Epstein over 16 years.

JPMorgan reported the transactions as suspicious to the US treasury department following Epstein’s suicide in 2019, Mimi Liu, a lawyer for the territory, said at a hearing concerning its lawsuit against the largest US bank.

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Canada issues travel advisory for LGBTQ+ residents visiting US

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Canadian government issues warning after numerous discriminatory laws passed in Republican-controlled states

LGBTQ+ citizens are at risk when traveling to the US due to numerous discriminatory laws passed at state level, the Canadian government has warned.

“Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws,” the government’s website reads.

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Hurricane Idalia brings intense flooding to Carolinas as Floridians count cost – live

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More than 50,000 customers in Carolinas still without power despite category 3 tempest weakening to tropical storm

Joe Biden signed a major disaster declaration for Florida following Hurricane Idalia.

The declaration provides the state with federal resources to support clean up, rescue, and more in response to the tropical storm.

The White House shares the following: “This morning, President Biden called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to convey that he has signed a Major Disaster Declaration and ordered all available federal resources to help with the continued response to Tropical Storm Idalia.

The President reiterated that the people of Florida have his full support as they recover from the storm

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Clarence Thomas discloses trips paid for by Republican mega-donor – live

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Supreme court justice acknowledges luxury travel provided by billionaire Harlan Crow in disclosure released after delay

Conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas has acknowledged trips paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow in a disclosure released today after a delay, CNN reports.

Reports from ProPublica and other media outlets including the Guardian released earlier this year found Thomas, the court’s longest-serving conservative justice, had questionable entanglements with parties interested in its cases, including by taking luxury vacations with Crow.

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Hurricane Idalia leaves trail of floods and wreckage in south-eastern US

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Tropical storm moves into Atlantic but torrential rain and inland flooding still likely in North Carolina, officials warn

Recovery efforts were under way in four states on Thursday as the remains of Hurricane Idalia, still a tropical storm with 60mph winds, moved into the Atlantic off the coast of the Carolinas.

Crews were sifting through wreckage across North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, where the storm came ashore on Wednesday as a category 3 hurricane with gusts of 160mph and sent a surge of seawater up to 16ft high inland through vulnerable coastal areas.

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Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson launch Maui wildfire fund with $10m

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Winfrey says direct cash assistance aims to support those affected as they determine what ‘rebuilding looks like for them’

Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have launched a relief fund for the Maui wildfires with an initial $10m donation.

The People’s Fund of Maui, a fund within the Entertainment Industry Foundation, will distribute direct cash assistance to those affected by the wildfires in Maui, which killed at least 115 people earlier this month and devastated the towns of Kula and Lahaina. The fund, supported by public donations and the initial grant by Winfrey and Johnson, plans to provide $1,200 a month to anyone over the age of 18 who lost their primary residence in the fires, including renters and excluding property owners who do not reside in the residence.

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Tesla investigated over funds ‘used to build secret Austin house for Elon Musk’

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Reports suggest plans for ‘Project 42’ included a glass structure that contained a residential element for the chief executive

US prosecutors are investigating Tesla over alleged use of company funds for a secret project described internally as a house for Elon Musk, the electric carmaker’s chief executive.

Information sought from Tesla by the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York includes personal benefits paid to Musk, how much was spent on the project and its purpose, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Double murderer Alex Murdaugh loses phone privileges after talking to media

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South Carolina lawyer, 55, disciplined by prison after giving interviews for new TV documentary on his case

The convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh has lost his phone privileges and his prison tablet computer after his lawyer recorded him reading his journal entries on a call for a documentary about his case, South Carolina corrections department officials said.

Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media, a state prisons spokeswoman, Chrysti Shain, said in a statement. The call was for a Fox Nation documentary series called The Fall of the House of Murdaugh that is set to air on Thursday.

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US restricts exports of Nvidia AI chips to Middle East

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Controls apply to A100 and H100 chips, in escalation of US efforts to curb China’s access to products

The US has expanded the restriction of exports of Nvidia artificial intelligence chips beyond China to some countries in the Middle East.

Nvidia, which is one of the world’s most valuable companies at $1.2tn, said in a regulatory filing this week the curbs affected its A100 and H100 chips, which are used to accelerate machine-learning tasks on major artificial intelligence apps, such as ChatGPT.

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Hurricane Idalia: Georgia declares state of emergency as severe flooding and storm surges hit south-eastern US – live

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The eye of Hurricane Idalia made landfall along the coast of the Florida Big Bend near Keaton Beach around 7.45am Eastern time, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds were near 125 mph.

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Hurricane Idalia batters south-eastern US causing storm surges and power outages

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Idalia makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast with torrential rains and 125mph winds and heads up coast to Georgia and the Carolinas

Federal officials warned of “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding across the south-eastern US on Wednesday after Hurricane Idalia crashed ashore in Florida with 125mph winds, torrential rains and surging seawater. Later in the afternoon the storm made its way up the coast to Georgia and the Carolinas.

The powerful storm, which the National Hurricane Center (NHC) called “an unprecedented event”, made landfall shortly after daybreak with 160mph gusts near Keaton Beach on Florida’s Gulf coast.

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Judge rules against Rudy Giuliani in Georgia election workers’ defamation suit – as it happened

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Trump’s former attorney ordered to pay attorneys’ fees of $89,172.50 for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss

Jury selection will begin on 5 September in the contempt of Congress trial of Peter Navarro, a former White House aide to Donald Trump.

Navarro was indicted last year after failing to comply with two subpoenas from the bipartisan congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack. He attempted to argue that executive privilege concerns prevented him from cooperating with the panel, but a federal judge ruled against that defense today.

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Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again for more than 30 seconds

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Republican Senate minority leader, 81, had a similar but shorter incident several weeks ago

The Republican leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, experienced another public health scare on Wednesday when he appeared to freeze for more than 30 seconds while speaking to reporters in his home state, Kentucky.

McConnell, 81, was eventually escorted away by staff, footage from an NBC News affiliate showed.

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California elementary school evacuated over bomb threat after rightwing harassment

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Chabot elementary in Oakland received racist and threatening emails, forcing 50 students and staff to vacate the premises

A California elementary school was evacuated on Tuesday in response to a bomb threat, days after the school was targeted online by rightwing extremists over a playdate event.

Chabot elementary in Oakland received the threat over email before school started on Tuesday, forcing roughly 50 students and staff members to evacuate, authorities said. Police found no explosives after searching the school using dogs from the bomb detection team.

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Texas judge blocks bill that would allow state to override local water breaks rules

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Republicans’ ‘Death Star’ law would have hurt many local labor laws, including paid sick leave and mandated water breaks

A Texas judge has ruled that a controversial bill dubbed “the Death Star law” is unconstitutional, just days before the law was set to take effect when it would have hurt many local labor laws, including paid sick leave and mandated water breaks for some employees toiling outside in a brutal heatwave.

The state district judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued her decision in response to a lawsuit against Texas filed by the cities of Houston, San Antonio and El Paso. Gamble agreed with arguments made by the cities that the bill is vague and unclear on which ordinances the municipalities must cancel before it was set to take effect.

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Ørsted shares fall 25% after it reveals troubles in US business

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Almost £7bn wiped off value of world’s largest offshore wind company over possible £1.8bn write-down

Shares in the world’s largest offshore wind company have tumbled by nearly a quarter after it said it may have to write down the value of its US portfolio by nearly £2bn.

Ørsted said it had been hit by a flurry of setbacks in its American business, triggering a rapid sell-off in its shares, listed in Copenhagen.

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Idalia expected to become category 3 hurricane as storm gains strength – live

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Storm expected to strengthen to category 3 before it makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast on Wednesday

A rapidly intensifying Hurricane Idalia was closing in on Florida’s Gulf coast on Tuesday, with landfall of the first major hurricane to strike the US this year was expected early on Wednesday.

Forecasters predicted Idalia would crash ashore as a higher-end category 3 hurricane. Category 3 hurricanes have winds between 111 and 129mph. Anything above a category 2 – on a scale of up to 5 – is considered major.

One word – leave. It’s not something to discuss.

Two blocks this way, two blocks that way, two blocks that way. Water. And all the other little residential areas are connected by bridges. Any one of those bridges can be taken out. If they do, you’re stuck on your side.

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Twitter allows US political candidates and parties to advertise in policy switch

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Announcement by the Elon Musk-owned social media platform has experts concerned over misinformation ahead of 2024 election

The social media company formerly known as Twitter said Tuesday it would now allow political advertising in the US from candidates and political parties, reversing previous policies and raising concerns over misinformation and hate speech ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Before billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company, now called X, in October 2022, Twitter had banned all political ads globally since 2019. In January, the platform lifted the ban and began allowing “cause-based ads” in the US that raise awareness of issues such as voter registration, stating that it planned to expand the types of political ads it would allow on the platform.

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