Category Archives: US News

Texas ordered to remove buoys meant to block migrants from Rio Grande River

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Preliminary order issued by judge David Ezra requires the floaters to be relocated to an embankment on the state side of the river

A US judge ordered Texas to move a line of floating buoys that were placed in the middle of the Rio Grande to block migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border. The ruling is a tentative win for the Biden administration after the Department of Justice (DoJ) sued the state.

The federal judge David Ezra on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction in the state capital of Austin that requires Texas to relocate the controversial buoys, currently near the city of Eagle Pass, to an embankment on the Texas side of the river.

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Federal prosecutors to seek Hunter Biden indictment by 29 September – as it happened

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Unclear what charges president’s son will face but he has been under investigation for potential tax and gun law violations. This blog is now closed

Obsequiousness to Donald Trump has its consequences. Yesterday, former leader of the Proud Boys militia group Enrique Tarrio was given the longest sentence yet handed out for the January 6 insurrection, the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports:

The former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Tuesday for his part in the failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after the 2020 election.

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Utah officials sued over failure to save Great Salt Lake: ‘Trying to avert disaster’

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Environmental and community groups have filed lawsuit as the water body shrinks from overuse, hastening its demise

Environmental and community groups have sued Utah officials over failures to save its iconic Great Salt Lake from irreversible collapse.

The largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere has been steadily shrinking, as more and more water has been diverted away from the lake to irrigate farmland, feed industry and water lawns. A megadrought across the US south-west, accelerated by global heating, has hastened the lake’s demise.

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Mitch McConnell rejects speculation about future amid concerns over health

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Republican Senate leader, 81, says he will finish term as signs emerge of uncertainty over his future in GOP ranks

Mitch McConnell rejected speculation about his future as Republican leader in the US Senate, telling reporters: “I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going to finish my Senate term.”

The remarks on Wednesday came amid intense speculation about the 81-year-old Kentucky senator’s health, after two recent freezes in front of reporters, one on Capitol Hill in July and another in McConnell’s home state last week.

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Biden to cancel oil and gas leases in Alaska issued by Trump administration

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Seven oil and gas leases canceled by interior department, which said sale during final days of Trump administration were flawed

The US interior department has canceled seven oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic national wildlife refuge that were part of a sale held in the waning days of the Trump administration, arguing the sale was legally flawed.

The interior secretary, Deb Haaland, said with her decision to cancel the remaining leases “no one will have rights to drill for oil in one of the most sensitive landscapes on earth”. However, a 2017 law mandates another lease sale by late 2024. Administration officials said they intend to comply with the law.

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Tropical storm could become ‘extremely dangerous’ hurricane, US experts warn

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Lee, currently in Atlantic, could be upgraded to hurricane later on Wednesday with its track still unclear

A tropical storm in the Atlantic might soon turn into an “extremely dangerous” major hurricane, with its future track and chances of making a potentially devastating landfall still unclear, the National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Lee could turn into a hurricane later on Wednesday and intensify to a category 3 or higher by this weekend. The National Hurricane Center issued advisories in areas near the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

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Three-legged Florida bear raids poolside fridge for cans of White Claw

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Video footage of ‘Tripod’ shows bear taking food and hard seltzer from area next to a swimming pool at a private residence

A three-legged bear in Florida has been spotted raiding a poolside refrigerator for cans of White Claw hard seltzer before heading back into the woods.

Known in the Lake Mary neighborhood as “Tripod”, the bear had been seen before, according to local TV station WESH. But on this particular visit to a resident’s garden, the bear launched a brazen theft of food and drinks on a swimming pool area.

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US secretary of state arrives in Kyiv for surprise visit | First Thing

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Antony Blinken expected to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy and announce an initial assistance package of up to $200m

Good morning.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced visit, his first for a year to the Ukrainian capital.

Tarrio and three lieutenants were convicted in May of charges including seditious conspiracy, a civil-war-era offense of which charges were previously rarely brought but are now levied against members of far-right groups that took part in the attack on the US Capitol.

Prosecutors had originally asked for a 33-year term, and while the judge, Timothy Kelly, did not agree, he said that he did not see any indication that Tarrio was remorseful for what he was convicted of and that there was a strong need to send a signal to others.

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Health concerns plague ageing Congress members returning to Capitol Hill

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Republicans Mitch McConnell and Steve Scalise join others in increased scrutiny over recent health issues

Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill as they race to reach a short-term funding deal by the end of the month to keep federal agencies open and avert a government shutdown. But worries about the health of two top Republicans loom over the high-stakes talks as politicians’ age has become a growing concern.

Speaking to reporters last week in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, the 81-year-old Senate Republican leader, appeared to freeze for 30 seconds after calling the possibility of a shutdown “a pretty big mess”. The incident raised questions about his health and mirrored an earlier incident where he suddenly paused for several seconds while speaking to reporters at the US Capitol.

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New York City’s crackdown on Airbnb and short-term rentals goes into effect

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New regulations expected to affect tens of thousands of illegal short-term listings

New rules in New York City on Airbnbs and short-term rentals go into effect on Tuesday, with regulations expected to affect tens of thousands of illegal short-term listings.

The latest legislation bulks up enforcement of existing rules on how short-term rentals are allowed to operate in New York City.

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US ‘university’ spreads climate lies and receives millions from rightwing donors

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PragerU is not accredited but has become a key tool in pushing false claims to youngsters – and raked in $200m from 2018 to 2022

A rightwing media outlet promoting climate-change denialism and other “anti-woke” staples to young students and adults via social media has become a fundraising Goliath, raking in close to $200m from 2018 to 2022 with big checks from top conservative donors, tax records reveal.

Founded in 2009 by the conservative talkshow host Dennis Prager, the eponymous Prager University Foundation is not an accredited education organization. But via online media its PragerU Kids division has become a key tool in spreading false claims to young people with short videos aimed at undercutting widely accepted science that climate crisis disasters are accelerating due, largely, to fossil-fuel usage.

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Manchester United shares in record fall after report of sale U-turn

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Drop on New York stock exchange comes amid claims Glazer family have taken club off market

Manchester United shares have suffered their steepest single-day fall in price after a report claimed the Glazer family was considering a U-turn on plans to sell the club.

Shares in the Premier League club dropped by 18.2% on Tuesday to $19.35 (£15.40), the biggest daily drop since they were listed the New York stock exchange in 2012.

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Antony Blinken arrives in Ukraine for surprise visit

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US secretary of state expected to announce initial package of military aid for Kyiv of up to $200m

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced visit that is his first for a year to the Ukrainian capital.

He is expected to announce a new package of US assistance of $175m-$200m during the two-day visit, AP reported, with a larger package worth more than $1bn expected later this week, according to a senior state department official.

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Mark Meadows pleads not guilty in Georgia 2020 election indictment

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The former Trump chief of staff joins 18 other co-defendants in pleading not guilty to illegal scheme to overturn election results

Mark Meadows, the former Trump White House chief of staff, has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia and will not appear in court in Atlanta this week.

Scott McAfee, the Fulton county superior court judge, had scheduled arraignment hearings for Wednesday for Meadows, former president Donald Trump and the other 17 people charged last month in a sprawling indictment. By midday Tuesday, all of the defendants had filed paperwork pleading not guilty in filings with the court and waived their rights to an arraignment hearing.

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Proud Boys former leader Enrique Tarrio in court for January 6 sentencing – live

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Prosecutors are seeking a 33-year prison term for seditious conspiracy

There is “no evidence” that Mitch McConnell experienced a seizure or stroke when he froze up last week, the Capitol’s physician Brian Monahan told the top Senate Republican in a letter today:

McConnell last week appeared suddenly unable to speak when taking questions reporters, the second such occurrence in as many months following a fall earlier this year that sidelined him from work for several weeks. The episodes have raised concerns about the health of 81-year-old McConnell, a fixture in Republican politics.

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Mitch McConnell did not have stroke or seizure, Capitol doctor says

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Brian Monahan suggests Republican leader in US Senate, 81, may be suffering effects of concussion sustained during fall in March

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, is not evidently suffering from “a seizure disorder”, a stroke or a “movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease”, the congressional physician said on Tuesday.

The doctor’s remarks came a little less than a week after the 81-year-old senator suffered a second worrying freeze in front of reporters.

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New York attorney general asks judge to sanction Trump over ‘frivolous’ arguments

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Letitia James says Trump family is rehashing failed legal arguments in $250m civil suit over company’s business affairs

The attorney general of New York state is seeking $20,000 in sanctions against Donald Trump, his adult sons, other defendants and their lawyers, for repeating “frivolous” arguments rejected in court in a $250m civil suit over family business practices.

In a filing on Tuesday, Andrew Amer, an assistant to Letitia James, the attorney general, noted repeated rejections of arguments deemed “borderline frivolous even the first time defendants made them”.

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Cop City protesters charged with racketeering as Georgia takes hard line

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Some of 61 defendants charged also face money laundering and domestic terrorism charges for environmental protests

Dozens of activists who oppose a controversial police and fire training facility in Georgia known as Cop City have been charged with racketeering, appearing to confirm fears from civil rights groups that prosecutors are stepping up an aggressive pursuit of environmental protesters.

A total of 61 people – most not from Georgia – were indicted for violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act last week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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Impeachment trial of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton begins in Austin

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Historic trial in state senate centers on allegedly corrupt relationship with real estate developer Nate Paul

The impeachment trial of the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, began on Tuesday – a rare and historic event in the state.

The ultra-conservative Paxton has a history of ethically questionable conduct that dates back to his first term in 2014, when he was fined by the Texas state securities board for violating financial laws.

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China on the agenda: 2024 candidates fret over how to deal with Beijing

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Republicans showcase range of hawkish policies designed to counter perceived threat amid diplomatic push by Biden

The United States’ tangled and increasingly fraught relationship with China is emerging centre stage in the 2024 presidential campaign in a rare case of foreign policy capturing the limelight in the race for the White House.

Half a century since a Republican president, Richard Nixon, made a historic visit to communist China to carve out a lauded strategic opening in the election year of 1972, Republican candidates vying to succeed him in the Oval Office are showcasing a range of hawkish policies designed to counter the perceived threat from Beijing.

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