Category Archives: US News

Outcry as Atlanta refuses to handle petitions over ‘Cop City’ police campus

Posted on by

City condemned for controversial move after activists and protesters deliver signatures to clerk’s office at city hall

The city of Atlanta has refused to begin counting and verifying petitions signed by about 116,000 registered voters to put on the ballot the question of whether a controversial police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” should be built.

The move was backed by a legal memo from lawyers hired by the city, citing an active court case, after dozens of activists and Atlanta residents delivered the petitions to the clerk’s office at city hall on Monday.

Continue reading...

Protesters arrested for occupying Kevin McCarthy’s office over Aids funding

Posted on by

Program caught in a partisan fight over abortion and is under threat amid Congress’s negotiations over government shutdown

Several people were arrested after entering the office of Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, during a protest for HIV/Aids funding on Monday.

The US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), a widely bipartisan program, has since been reauthorized three times, and Joe Biden earlier this year indicated that he would work with Congress to extend it a fourth.

Continue reading...

Pit bull puppy saved by California police after possible fentanyl exposure

Posted on by

The pup’s owners were arrested in a Walmart parking lot on suspicion of animal cruelty and possession of narcotics

California police administered an overdose-reversing drug to a pit bull puppy in attempts to save it from a potential fentanyl overdose.

On Friday, the Irvine police department announced that it administered a dose of Narcan to the puppy after it was exposed to fentanyl in a car and began to “show signs of an overdose”.

Continue reading...

Phoenix sets record in hellishly hot summer – but relief is in sight

Posted on by

The Arizona capital reached 55th day above 110F this year, but forecast says that cooler temps – even rain – are on the horizon

Residents in Phoenix, Arizona, are set to experience some relief from the blistering heatwave following the city’s record of the most days at or above 110F (43.3C) this year despite reaching 112F (44.4C) on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

On Sunday, the NWS announced that temperatures in Arizona’s largest city will finally begin to retreat “closer to the seasonal normal” with highs expected to range between 102F (38.9C) and 104F (40C) between Monday and Friday. Sunday’s temperature broke the daily high record of 111F (43.9C) set in 1990.

Continue reading...

Gun rights group sues New Mexico governor over emergency firearm ban

Posted on by

Michelle Lujan Grisham announced open and concealed carry restrictions on Friday after the deaths of three children

A pro-gun group is suing the New Mexico governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, in an effort to block a 30-day emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in Albuquerque’s Bernalillo county issued last week after a spate of shootings.

The governor announced open and concealed carry restrictions on Friday in a public health order relating to gun violence after the fatal shootings of an 11-year-old boy on his way home from a minor league baseball game last week, as well as the fatal shooting of a four-year-old girl in her bed in a motor home and a 13-year-old girl in Taos county in August.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden calls for stable US-China relationship during south-east Asia tour

Posted on by

The US president’s remarks came after after meeting in Vietnam with Communist party official to secure global supply chain

Joe Biden’s national security tour of south-east Asia reached Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, where the president called for stability in the US-China relationship against an increasingly complex diplomatic picture in the region for his country.

“I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said. “I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it’s all about.”

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris says she’s prepared to serve as president ‘if necessary’

Posted on by

Vice-president dismisses opponents’ attacks that president is too old to seek out a second term and says ‘he’s going to be fine’

Kamala Harris on Sunday declared herself ready to assume the presidency if it ever behooved her to do so – but she also made it a point to dismiss opponents’ political attacks that Joe Biden is too old to seek out a second term in the Oval Office.

Asked on CBS’s Face the Nation whether she was prepared to serve as commander-in-chief in case Biden became unable to carry out his duties, Harris said: “Yes, I am, if necessary.”

Continue reading...

Pennsylvania fugitive driving stolen van as he continues to elude capture

Posted on by

Danelo Cavalcante who escaped prison over a week ago has slipped out of the search area and changed his appearance, police say

Authorities say an escaped murderer who has eluded capture since breaking out of a south-eastern Pennsylvania prison a week and a half ago has apparently slipped out of the search area, changed his appearance and is now being sought in a stolen vehicle.

Pennsylvania state police said in a statement on Sunday that Danelo Souza Cavalcante was seen overnight near Phoenixville in northern Chester county, more than 20 miles (32km) north-east of the area that until now has been the focus of the search.

Continue reading...

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis sorry for ‘pain’ caused by letters on behalf of Danny Masterson

Posted on by

Actors say letters were not meant to undermine victims of Masterson, who was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rape

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apologized on Saturday for character letters the celebrity couple wrote on behalf of fellow That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson before he was sentenced for rape this week.

A judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women in 2003.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Continue reading...

Watered-down G20 statement on Ukraine is sign of India’s growing influence

Posted on by

Joe Biden’s need to nurture alliances to contain China sees Ukraine perceptibly slipping down list of priorities

It took exhausted Indian diplomats 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings and 15 drafts, but in the end the G20 countries reached a consensus declaration on the war in Ukraine – one that largely retreated into generalised principles rather than the specific condemnation of Russia that the same group of leaders agreed when they met in Bali a year ago.

Moreover, no invitation was extended to Ukrainie’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to address the gathering, meaning the only direct combatant around the table was Russia, represented by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Continue reading...

Phoenix breaks heat record as city hits 110F for the 54th consecutive day

Posted on by

Saturday’s temperature had triggered an excessive heat warning across Arizona as lows were expected to range between 80F and 86F

The temperature in Phoenix, Arizona continues to rise as the city broke its previous record of the most consecutive days at or above 110F (43C).

On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service announced that the temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport reached 110F, making it the 54th day this year with temperatures of at least 110F.

Continue reading...

‘Help me’: fans watching bear camera help save Alaska hiker’s life

Posted on by

Wildlife enthusiasts watching live feed from remote national park spot hiker in distress and alert authorities to rescue him

They logged on hoping to see brown bears gorging on salmon, fattening themselves up for their winter hibernation. Instead, what the wildlife enthusiasts viewing one of Alaska’s most remote national park webcams saw was a disheveled and weather-beaten hiker shuffling into view, mouthing the words “help me” into the lens.

The episode captured by a camera at the Katmai national park sparked a chain of events that ended with the safe recovery of the unknown hiker by search and rescue teams, according to rangers.

Continue reading...

Son of prominent conservative activist convicted on US Capitol attack charges

Posted on by

Leo Brent Bozell IV convicted on charges that he invaded Senate floor to try to disrupt certification of Biden’s victory

The son of a prominent conservative activist has been convicted of charges that he stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, bashed in a window, chased a police officer, invaded the Senate floor and helped a mob disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

Leo Brent Bozell IV, 44, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was found guilty on Friday of 10 charges, including five felony offenses, after a trial decided by a federal judge, according to the federal justice department.

Continue reading...

New Orleans archbishop: local Catholic institutions must help with cost of clergy abuse claims

Posted on by

Gregory Aymond’s letter contradicts promises made to schools and churches when archdiocese declared bankruptcy in May 2020

Contradicting promises he made when his archdiocese declared bankruptcy in May 2020, New Orleans’s archbishop, Gregory Aymond, told the area’s Catholic churches, schools and other ministries that they will now have to share some of the costs of resolving hundreds of clergy abuse claims.

Aymond’s notice came in a letter on Friday, at the end of a particularly bad news week for his organization. One day earlier, a grand jury in New Orleans indicted the retired archdiocesan priest Lawrence Hecker on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft.

Continue reading...

G20: EU and US back trade corridor linking Europe, Middle East and India

Posted on by

Joe Biden describes ambitious rail and sea plan to counter China’s Belt and Road project as a ‘really big deal’

The US and the EU have backed an ambitious plan to build an economic corridor linking Europe with the Middle East and India via rail and sea, a project the US president, Joe Biden, described as a “really big deal”.

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the project during a Saturday afternoon session at the G20 leaders’ summit, being held in Delhi this weekend.

Continue reading...

Large swells batter Caribbean as Hurricane Lee churns waters nearby

Posted on by

Storm not forecast to make landfall but is expected to strengthen again on Sunday and Monday and turn north

Large swells battered the north-east Caribbean on Saturday as Hurricane Lee churned nearby through open waters as a category 3 storm.

The storm, which is not forecast to make landfall, was located about 350 miles (565km) east and north-east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had winds of up to 115mph (185kph) and was moving west and north-west at 12mph (19kph).

Continue reading...

Family demand Mississippi cops fired for arresting Black boy, 10, who peed in car park

Posted on by

Lawyer for family threaten federal civil rights lawsuit against Senatobia if demand not met after boy detained and placed in cell

The family of a 10-year-old Black boy who was arrested and placed in a cell for relieving himself in a parking lot say they will file a federal civil rights lawsuit against a Mississippi city unless police officers involved in the detention are fired.

Quantavious Eason was detained and taken to a police station in Senatobia after an officer spotted him urinating behind a car outside a law office last month while his mother was inside getting advice on a housing issue.

Continue reading...

New Mexico officials call for governor’s impeachment after firearms restriction

Posted on by

Democratic governor’s emergency order restricts carrying firearms for at least 30 days amid spate of gun violence

New Mexico state representatives Stefani Lord and John Block are calling for the impeachment of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham after Grisham issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque, the state’s largest city.

The governor on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days amid a spate of gun violence.

Continue reading...

Hawaii fires: number of missing drops from hundreds to 66 amid recovery

Posted on by

Josh Green, the state governor, approved $25m for business recovery and said Maui will reopen for tourism on 8 October

One month after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina, the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, said Friday that the number of missing has dropped to 66, the confirmed death toll remains at 115 and authorities will soon escort residents on visits to their property.

Tens of millions of dollars in aid will make its way to families and businesses as they recover, Green said, and beginning 8 October, travel restrictions will end and West Maui will reopen to visitors.

Continue reading...

US judge rejects Mark Meadows’ request to move Georgia case to federal court

Posted on by

Ruling means the prosecution of Meadows brought by the Fulton county district stays in the superior court of Atlanta

A federal judge denied a request from former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to transfer his Georgia 2020 election interference case from state to federal court on the basis that some of the charged conduct was within the scope of his official duties.

The ruling from US district judge Steve Jones on Friday means the prosecution of Meadows brought by the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis stays in superior court in Atlanta, unless Meadows appeals and the decision is reversed by the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit.

Continue reading...