Category Archives: US News

Biden says US played no role in Russia’s Wagner mutiny: ‘We were not involved’

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The short-lived rebellion by the mercenary group posed a serious challenge to Vladimir Putin’s rule in Russia

Joe Biden has described the Wagner mercenary group’s brief mutiny against the Russian government as part of an internal power struggle, in which he said the US played no role.

“We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it,” Biden said during an event at the White House on Monday. “We’re going to keep assessing the fallout of this weekend’s events and the implications for Russia and Ukraine. But it’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going.”

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List of witnesses against Trump cannot be secret in documents case, judge rules

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US district court judge Aileen Cannon also scheduled a hearing to start the discovery process for classified documents

The federal judge presiding over the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump in the classified documents case ruled against the government in her first pre-trial order on Monday, denying a request from federal prosecutors to file a list of potential witnesses against the former US president under seal.

“The government’s motion does not explain why filing the list with the court is necessary; it does not offer a particularized basis to justify sealing the list from public view,” the US district court judge Aileen Cannon wrote.

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Ron DeSantis accused of ‘stupid’ move with timing of New Hampshire event

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2024 presidential hopeful schedules event in competition with Donald Trump speech to Republican women

Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign is struggling in the crucial state of New Hampshire and may have made the situation worse by scheduling an event on Tuesday in competition with a speech by Donald Trump to Republican women, prompting one prominent strategist to call the move “stupid”, Politico reported.

“It’s the worst strategic move he has exhibited thus far,” the New Hampshire Republican strategist, Mike Dennehy, told the website. “It’s just stupid, actually. You don’t take on the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women.”

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After Roe’s overturn, Republicans target trans rights using extremist rhetoric

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Republican presidential candidates attacked trans people and the LGBTQ+ community at a gathering of the religious right last week

Americans are “frustrated and anxious”, lamented former vice-president Mike Pence. The country is “in a precarious position” assessed North Carolina’s lieutenant governor Mark Robinson. And Glenn Jacobs, a former professional wrestling star and current mayor of Knox county, Tennessee, declared that “these are hard times”.

What could be the cause of such hardship? To the Republican presidential candidates who spoke in Washington DC on Friday at a major gathering of the religious right, the culprit was American society’s acceptance of transgender people and the broader LGBTQ+ community.

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Obama remarks on India’s treatment of Muslims ‘hypocritical’ – minister

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Indian finance minister hits out after former US president said Modi government should protect rights of Muslims

India’s finance minister has derided comments by the former US president Barack Obama that Narendra Modi’s government should protect the rights of minority Muslims, accusing Obama of being hypocritical.

During the Indian prime minister’s state visit to the US last week, Obama told CNN that the issue of the “protection of the Muslim minority in a majority-Hindu India” would be worth raising in Modi’s meeting with the US president, Joe Biden.

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Aston Martin agrees deal to make electric vehicles with US firm Lucid

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British carmaker to use components from Lucid to produce luxury high-performance battery electric models

Aston Martin has struck a deal with the US firm Lucid to start making “ultra-luxury high-performance electric vehicles” from 2025.

The British luxury carmaker, whose losses more than doubled last year to almost £500m, has struck a cash and shares deal valued at £182m in which Lucid will take a 3.7% stake in London-listed Aston Martin.

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‘We can’t rest or relent’: Pence reiterates support of staunch abortion restrictions

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Former vice-president hails Dobbs decision as ‘historic victory’ but says it didn’t go far enough and urges a nationwide abortion ban

Despite their unpopularity with the American public, former Republican vice-president and 2024 White House hopeful Mike Pence doubled down Sunday on his hard-line support of staunch abortion restrictions, saying: “We just can’t rest or relent until we restore the sanctity of life.”

Pence – in an interview on Fox News Sunday – made clear that he viewed bringing the elimination of abortion “to the center of American law” as both essential and “a winning issue” for the Republican party trying to wrest back control of the Oval Office.

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Montana officials testing Yellowstone River water at site of rail bridge collapse

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The EPA, which is working with the state rail authority on the cleanup, has not detected any toxic gases downwind of the site

Authorities on Sunday were testing the water quality along a stretch of the Yellowstone River where mangled cars carrying hazardous materials remained after crashing into the waterway following a bridge collapse.

The seven mangled train cars that were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur when they fell Saturday morning remained in the rushing river on Sunday near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (roughly 64km) west of Billings. The area is in a sparsely populated section of the Yellowstone River valley, surrounded by ranches and farmland.

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New Jersey man flies 23m miles with lifetime United pass ‘like a sultan’

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Since paying $290,000 for the ‘best investment’ of his life in 1990, Tom Stuker was flown more miles than the Apollo 11 moon trip

A US man who bought a lifetime pass from United Airlines three decades ago has “lived like a sultan” ever since, according to a report, flying multiples of miles more than the Apollo 11 spacecraft in the process.

Tom Stuker, from New Jersey, paid $290,000 for the pass in 1990, according to the Washington Post, a decision he said is the “best investment of my life”.

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Republicans’ enduring fealty to Trump on display at conference after his indictment

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Ex-president lashes out at prosecutors and tells conservative audience that his two indictments are a ‘great badge of courage’

Republicans’ enduring loyalty to Donald Trump was on vivid display at a conservative conference this weekend, convened just two weeks after the former president was indicted on 37 federal charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Addressing this year’s Road to Majority conference Saturday, Trump lashed out against federal prosecutors, who have accused the former president of intentionally withholding classified documents from authorities and obstructing justice in his efforts to keep those materials concealed. Trump, who could soon face additional charges in Washington and Georgia, told the friendly crowd that he considered each of his two indictments so far to be “a great badge of courage” as he ran to unseat Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.

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Wagner rebellion reveals ‘cracks’ in Putin government, says Blinken

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Secretary of state says mutiny may help Ukraine counteroffensive after Yevgeny Prigozhin calls off advance on Moscow

A day after renegade Wagner mercenaries almost sparked a civil war in Russia, the top US diplomat has said the uprising showed “real cracks” in Vladimir Putin’s government and may offer Ukraine a crucial advantage as it conducts a counteroffensive that could influence the outcome of the war.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the upheaval triggered by the aborted advance on Moscow by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries on Saturday was far from over. Neither Prigozhin nor Putin have been heard from since coming to a last-minute agreement on Saturday to avert clashes near Moscow between mercenaries and regular Russian troops.

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Harvard professor who studies honesty accused of falsifying data in studies

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Francesca Gino, a prominent Harvard Business School professor, allegedly has falsified results in behavioral science studies

In an ironic twist in the world of behavioral science, a Harvard professor who studies honesty has been accused of data fraud.

Over the last few weeks, allegations have surfaced against Francesca Gino, a prominent Harvard Business School (HBS) professor who has been accused of falsifying results in several behavioral science studies.

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Texas airport worker dies after being sucked into Delta jet engine

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Identity of worker killed on Friday evening at San Antonio international airport has not been publicly released

A worker at San Antonio’s international airport died after being sucked into a jet’s engine late on Friday.

A source who was briefed directly on the case told the Guardian on Sunday that it appeared the worker had “intentionally stepped in front of the live engine” on the jet and that police were investigating that aspect. But the cause of worker’s death hadn’t officially been determined Sunday, and the source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation into the case was still pending.

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Attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans cast long shadow over Pride month

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Many LGBTQ+ Americans remain on edge and fearful of what the recent backlash means for their future

St Cloud, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, hosted its first official Pride celebration just last year. This year, the organizers made the difficult decision to cancel, in large part because of the state’s recent law effectively banning drag shows with minors in attendance.

The other reason was a death threat; a sign appeared in a nearby community that read: “Kill all the gays.”

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US navy accused of cover-up over radioactive shipyard waste

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Public health advocates say land at Hunters Point in San Francisco contains dangerous levels of strontium-90

The US navy is covering up dangerous levels of radioactive waste on a 40-acre former shipyard parcel in San Francisco’s waterside Hunters Point neighborhood, public health advocates charge.

The land is slated to be turned over to the city as early as next year, and could be used for residential redevelopment. The accusations stem from 2021 navy testing that found 23 samples from the property showed high levels of strontium-90, a radioactive isotope that replaces calcium in bones and causes cancer.

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Trump rails against federal charges and accuses Biden of ‘weaponizing’ justice department

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Former president says he considers the two indictments a ‘great badge of courage’ during a speech at the Road to Majority conference

Donald Trump has derided the substantial federal charges against him, downplaying the numerous legal threats he faces while attacking Joe Biden for allegedly having “weaponized” the department of justice for political gain.

Speaking on Saturday at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, hosted by the right-wing evangelical Faith and Freedom Coalition, Trump said he considered each of the two indictments he has received so far to be a “great badge of courage”.

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Julian Sands: body found in California mountains where actor disappeared

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Human remains discovered near Mount Baldy and transported to coroner’s office for identification

Hikers have found human remains in a southern California mountain area where the British actor Julian Sands disappeared five months ago, authorities said.

The body was discovered at about 10am on Saturday in wilderness near Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel mountains and was transported to the coroner’s office for identification next week, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department said in a statement.

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Scooter, a Chinese crested, is crowned world’s ugliest dog

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The annual contest celebrates pets’ imperfections, such as Scooter’s backwards-facing hind legs and sparse hair

Linda Elmquist, of Tucson, Arizona, smiled broadly as she held her little dog aloft. Finally, Scooter was being recognized for his best qualities on Friday as he was given the title of the world’s ugliest dog.

The competition, held as part of the Sonoma-Marin fair in Petaluma, California, for the past 50 years, is a world-renowned event that promotes dog adoption and showcases extraordinary canines that have defied adversity – and celebrates their imperfections.

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Iowa meteorologist resigns after death threats over climate crisis coverage

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Chris Gloninger says he developed post-traumatic stress disorder and will resign from job after 18 years at Des Moines’s KCCI

An Iowa meteorologist says he is resigning from the television station where he works because he developed post-traumatic stress disorder after threats over his climate change coverage.

On Wednesday, Chris Gloninger, the chief meteorologist at Des Moines’s CBS TV station affiliate KCCI, announced that he will be stepping down from his position and leaving his broadcast career in July.

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Montana bridge collapses causing train carrying toxic materials to fall into river

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Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream after train cars carrying asphalt and sulfur submerged in Yellowstone River

A bridge that crosses Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early on Saturday morning, causing portions of a freight train carrying hazardous materials to plunge into the flooded river below, officials said.

The train cars were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur, said David Stamey, Stillwater county’s chief of emergency services. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow liquid pouring out of tank cars.

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