Category Archives: US News

Saudi Arabia warns Snapchat users that ‘insulting’ regime is a criminal offense

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Users of the social media app have faced legal consequences for posts – some private – that are critical of Saudi authorities

Saudi state media issued an explicit warning that it is a criminal offense to “insult” authorities using social media apps such as Snapchat, the California-based messaging app whose chief executive recently forged a new “cooperation” deal with the kingdom’s culture ministry.

The threat – which was originally televised in April and then deleted – has gained new resonance as more cases emerge in which Snapchat users and influencers in the kingdom have been arrested by authorities and, in some cases, sentenced to decades-long prison sentences.

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Barbie film required so much pink paint it contributed to worldwide shortage

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The film’s production designer Sarah Greenwood says ‘the world ran out of pink’ during construction of Barbieland and lifesize versions of the doll’s Dreamhouse

Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie film required so much pink paint during construction that it wiped out an entire company’s global supply.

Speaking to Architectural Digest, Gerwig and the film’s production designer Sarah Greenwood, spoke about the construction of Barbieland, which is almost entirely fluorescent pink, from the lifesize versions of the doll’s famous “Dreamhouse” to the roads and lamp-posts.

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US jets pursue light aircraft over Washington DC before it crashes in Virginia

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The fighter jets caused a sonic boom over the US capital that sent some residents into a brief panic

US authorities scrambled fighter jets to intercept an unresponsive light aircraft that violated the airspace over the Washington DC area and later crashed into mountainous terrain in south-west Virginia, officials have said.

Four people were onboard the Cessna Citation plane, according to CNN, which cited an unnamed source. Police said rescuers had found no survivors onboard the plane.

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Directors union reaches tentative deal with Hollywood studios as writers strike

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Agreement comes as writers remain on strike and actors are currently holding a strike authorization vote

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) which represents film and television directors announced late on Saturday that it had reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood’s major studios, averting a possible work stoppage.

The development comes as Hollywood writers are currently on strike and actors represented by the Sag-Aftra union are currently holding a strike authorization vote.

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Bowel cancer patients could be spared radiotherapy, US study suggests

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Doctors found some patients could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat the disease

Thousands of bowel cancer patients could be spared radiotherapy, a study suggests, after doctors discovered they could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat their disease.

Radiotherapy has been used to treat bowel cancer patients for decades, but the side-effects can be brutal. It can cause problems that negatively affect quality of life, including infertility, the need for a temporary colostomy, diarrhoea, cramping and bladder problems.

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Chuck Todd to leave NBC’s Meet the Press after nearly 10 years

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Kristen Welker, the network’s chief White House correspondent, will take over hosting duties for the political affairs show

Chuck Todd has announced that he will be leaving NBC’s Meet the Press after nearly 10 years.

On Sunday, Todd, who has hosted the political affairs show for more than nine years, told viewers: “It’s been an amazing nearly decade-long run. I am really proud of what this team and I have built over the last decade.”

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Migrants flown from Texas to California and left outside church were ‘lied to’

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Rights group says 16 migrants were flown via private chartered plane but its unclear who paid for the travel

A rights group has said 16 migrants had been “lied to” and deceived after being transported from Texas to California and dropped off outside a church in Sacramento.

The migrants from Venezuela and Columbia entered the US through Texasreported the Associated Press. They were flown to California from New Mexico via a private chartered plane, but it’s unclear who paid for the travel.

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Family confirms missing resident found deceased in Iowa building collapse

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Branden Colvin Sr is the first confirmed fatality in six-story apartment building that partially collapsed in Davenport last week

The family of Branden Colvin Sr confirmed on Saturday he was found deceased at the six-story apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, that partially collapsed on Sunday, 28 May.

Colvin’s 18-year-old son, Branden Colvin Jr, had been sleeping outside of the building awaiting news on his father. “I know my dad’s in there and there’s nothing I can do … wishing I could just run in there,” Colvin Jr. told ABC News on Wednesday.

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Sardinian town invokes Arnold Schwarzenegger link to give population a US boost

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Ten Americans will pay €1 a month to live in Ollolai, birthplace of former Mr Universe Franco Columbu

Ten American professionals are moving to a small town in the middle of Sardinia known for being the birthplace of a former Mr Universe who was a close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, paying a token rent of €1 (86p) a month.

The project, called Work from Ollolai and launched by the local council in collaboration with the Sa Mata association, is aimed at boosting the population in the town, located in the mountainous Barbagia region of the Italian island.

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Traffic cop sues city over ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ cards for NYPD friends and family

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Mathew Bianchi claims superiors retaliated against him for writing tickets for people holding ‘corrupt’ courtesy cards

Mathew Bianchi became a Staten Island traffic cop in 2017, two years after joining the New York police department, assigned to enforcing traffic violations and issuing tickets. In the first two years on that beat, he received stellar performance evaluations.

But in November 2018 – a year into his career in the traffic unit – Bianchi issued a ticket to a civilian who held a New York City police department laminated courtesy card, an unofficial credential issued to NYPD officers based on their union affiliation that can then be distributed to family members and friends to carry with them.

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Florida school offers yearbook reprints after objections to LGBTQ+ content

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Several conservative parents of students at Lyman high school complained about two pages highlighting LGBTQ+ students

A high school in Florida will offer refunds and reprints to parents and students who argued its yearbook featured “disgusting and wrong” LGBTQ+ content.

Students at Lyman high school in Seminole county received their yearbooks a few weeks ago. Several conservative parents complained.

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Chris Christie just wants to ‘bludgeon’ Trump, Fox News’s Hannity complains

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Sean Hannity says ex-New Jersey governor lacks ‘inspiring agenda’ as he prepares new presidential run

Chris Christie has promised to take the fight to Donald Trump when he launches a long-shot Republican presidential campaign next week, but he seems likely to have to do so without help from one key voice at Fox News.

The former New Jersey governor just wants to “bludgeon” Trump, the primetime host and close Trump ally Sean Hannity said on Friday, adding that he did not want to give Christie any airtime.

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Biden signs debt ceiling bill after months-long standoff, avoiding default

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Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, secured a number of cuts on federal spending, with the borrowing limit suspended until 2025

Joe Biden signed a bill on Saturday to suspend the US debt ceiling, ending a months-long standoff with the Republican House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and averting a federal default that could have upended the world economy.

Economists warned that a default could have caused the US unemployment rate to double while significantly damaging gross domestic product.

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Makers of Lightyear flop among Pixar job cuts by Disney

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Director and producer of Toy Story spinoff lose roles after $200m production brought in just $226.7m in global ticket sales

Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios has eliminated 75 positions including those of two executives behind the box office disappointment Lightyear, sources said on Saturday, the first significant job cuts at the studio in a decade.

The cuts included Lightyear director Angus MacLane, a 26-year Pixar veteran who was part of the senior creative team on such acclaimed films as Toy Story 4 and Coco. Galyn Susman, producer of Lightyear, also departed. Susman had been at Pixar since the release of the original Toy Story movie in 1995.

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New Hampshire man arrested and charged with death threat to US senator

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Statement by US attorney’s office says Brian Landry, 66, called office of unnamed senator saying ‘I’m a veteran sniper’

A New Hampshire man was arrested and charged with threatening to kill an unnamed US senator.

On Friday, the US attorney’s office for the district of New Hampshire announced that Brian Landry, 66, was charged with threatening to assault, kidnap or murder the senator, “in connection with the official’s performance of official duties”.

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Tiananmen massacre museum opens in New York despite fear of Beijing backlash

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Communist party has campaigned for decades to eradicate remembrance events for the 4 June clashes in Beijing

When Zhou Fengsuo was looking for a space in New York to display his art collection, he couldn’t believe his luck when he stumbled across 894 6th Avenue in the heart of midtown Manhattan. The numbers of the address – 8946 – were the same as the date he wanted to commemorate: 4 June 1989. It was “unbelievable”, the former student leader marvelled.

That Zhou’s collection, which opened to the public on Friday as part of the June 4th Memorial Museum, ended up in such an uncanny location is the result of a concerted, decades-long campaign by the Chinese Communist party (CCP) to eradicate any remembrance of the 1989 massacre around Tiananmen Square anywhere in the world.

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Teacher Tasered by LAPD died from enlarged heart and cocaine use

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Death of Keenan Darnell Anderson prompted outcry in January over use of force by Los Angeles police

A teacher who was repeatedly shocked with a Taser by Los Angeles police died from an enlarged heart and cocaine use, according to an autopsy report released on Friday.

The 3 January death of Keenan Darnell Anderson, 31, prompted an outcry over use of force by Los Angeles police. It was one of three fatal LAPD confrontations, including two shootings, that took place days into the new year.

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Utah school district that banned Bible considers removing Book of Mormon

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Davis school district says it will assess text after complaint for ‘pornographic or indecent materials’ under law passed last year

A school district in Utah that last week banned the Bible from school libraries is now being asked to consider a further title for removal: the Book of Mormon.

The Davis school district, which serves Davis county, north of Salt Lake City, said it was considering a new complaint demanding the removal of the foundational text of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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‘I still hate politics’: Gisele Barreto Fetterman, wife of US senator, hits out

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Wife of Democratic Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman adds US political scene is ‘mean’ in interview with MSNBC

Gisele Barreto Fetterman, married to a former mayor and lieutenant governor who is now a US senator, regrets how “mean” the US political scene has become, saying: “I still hate politics.”

The wife of the Democratic Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman was speaking to MSNBC in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.

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Montreal: holdout tenant halts developer’s push to force her out

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Focus over affordable housing as Carla White says she will not leave unless Mondev provides similar apartment with cheap rent

A single holdout tenant in a Montreal apartment block has halted a multimillion-dollar development project, in a standoff which has focused fresh attention on the lack of affordable housing in major Canadian cities.

Real estate developer Mondev has been trying for years to persuade Carla White to move from her small, C$400-a-month apartment so it can demolish a row of mostly abandoned buildings and build 176 condominium units.

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