Category Archives: US News

Trump uses UFC in bid to reach new demographic of voters

Posted on by

Former president’s sit-down to discuss combat sports part of strategy to cater to young men with little interest in politics

During a stretch of campaign stops taking place under the specter of a potential indictment, Donald Trump managed to make time for a sit-down interview on an unlikely platform: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Recorded just before Trump’s appearance at a UFC event in Las Vegas in July, the interview offered a rare departure from the controversial president’s politically charged interviews, instead focusing on his background as a boxing promoter, his all-time favorite combat sports matches, and the hypothetical walkout song he would pick if he were a fighter himself. The hosts described Trump as a “genuine fight fan” and their enthusiasm was palpable as he shared insights on promoting the likes of Mike Tyson during the 1980s.

Continue reading...

Texas judge rules abortion ban too strict for risky pregnancies

Posted on by

State attorney general immediately appeals against ruling that says doctors must be allowed to end unsafe pregnancies

A judge in Texas has ruled that the state’s abortion ban is too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications and must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges.

The ruling in Austin was the first to undercut the law since it took effect in 2022 and delivers a major victory to abortion rights supporters, who see the case as a potential blueprint to weaken restrictions elsewhere that Republican-led states have rushed to implement.

Continue reading...

Ron DeSantis’s biggest donor to pull plug until campaign makes changes

Posted on by

Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow has contributed $20m to the Never Back Down Super Pac but is now wary of the slow campaign

Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid, has said he will not donate more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.

The comments by Bigelow, who gave $20m to the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down Super Pac in March, to Reuters underscore donor concerns about the Florida governor’s struggling campaign.

Continue reading...

California judge arrested on suspicion of killing wife

Posted on by

Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, arrested in connection with death of Sheryl Ferguson, 65, discovered at home with at least one gunshot wound

A southern California judge has been arrested in connection with the killing of his wife, authorities said Friday.

Jeffrey Ferguson was arrested late Thursday after police received reports of a shooting in an Anaheim Hills home and found the judge’s wife, Sheryl Ferguson, suffering from at least one gunshot wound, Anaheim police said.

Continue reading...

Trump looked like ‘scared puppy’ on way to court, Nancy Pelosi says

Posted on by

Former speaker says she ‘didn’t see any bravado or confidence’ in comments likely to enrage Trump, a longtime Pelosi foe

Donald Trump looked like “a scared puppy” before his arraignment in court in Washington on charges related to his election subversion, Nancy Pelosi said, comments likely to anger an ex-president the former US House speaker has long delighted in baiting.

“I wasn’t in the courtroom of course but when I saw his coming out of his car and this or that, I saw a scared puppy,” Pelosi told MSNBC.

Continue reading...

John Bolton suggests US will leave Nato if ‘erratic’ Trump wins in 2024

Posted on by

Ex-national security adviser calls former boss ‘irrational’ and criticizes Republicans who support him on foreign policy

Ex-national security adviser John Bolton issued harsh remarks against his former boss and the leading 2024 Republican presidential candidate, saying that the US will likely withdraw from Nato if Donald Trump wins the election.

In an interview with the Hill on Thursday, Bolton criticized the former president’s foreign policy after an op-ed he wrote earlier this week called Trump’s behavior “erratic, irrational and unconstrained”.

Continue reading...

Black US journalism professor wins $1m over botched university appointment

Posted on by

Kathleen McElroy, whose history of promoting diversity caused pushback, receives damages and apology from Texas A&M

A Black journalism professor who was hired by Texas A&M University before objections in some quarters over her history of promoting diversity foiled the job offer has secured a $1m settlement from the institution.

Kathleen McElroy also received an apology from officials at Texas A&M, the largest public school in the US, who in a statement Thursday acknowledged “mistakes … made during the process”.

Continue reading...

Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era voting law struck down by federal appeals court

Posted on by

2-1 ruling on policy that revoked voting rights for certain people with felony convictions is surprise victory from conservative court

A federal appeals court on Friday struck down Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era policy of permanently revoking voting rights from certain people with felony convictions, ruling that it is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

The 2-1 panel ruling is a surprise victory from the conservative fifth circuit court of appeals just over a month after the US supreme court refused to hear a challenge to the discriminatory law.

Continue reading...

Bloomsbury USA president dies in speedboat collision in Italy

Posted on by

Adrienne Vaughan was on family holiday and reportedly fell overboard when speedboat collided with a sailboat

Adrienne Vaughan, the 45-year-old president of the US branch of the Bloomsbury publishing house, has been killed after a collision between a speedboat and a 45-metre sailboat on Italy’s Amalfi coast.

Vaughan was on holiday in Italy with her husband and two children when the collision happened on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Cyberattack disrupts hospital computer systems across US, hindering services

Posted on by

‘Data security incident’ began Thursday at facilities operated by California’s Prospect Medical Holdings

A cyberattack has disrupted hospital computer systems across the United States, forcing emergency rooms in several states to close on Thursday and ambulances to be diverted.

Many primary care services remained closed on Friday as security experts worked to determine the extent of the problem and resolve it.

Continue reading...

Crowds gather under stormy skies for glimpse of Trump in court – again

Posted on by

Road closures and a huge police presence meant Trump slipped into court out of public view – but onlookers made their voices heard

After hearing that Donald Trump would appear at a federal courthouse in downtown Washington to answer charges filed against him for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, Joan Batista made plans to be outside, celebrating what she viewed as the former president’s long overdue comeuppance.

But when she arrived at the E Barrett Prettyman US courthouse, what she saw bothered her. City trucks equipped with snow plows blocked roads, hundreds of police monitored the building’s entrances and reporters from all around the world ringed its perimeter, hoping for a glimpse of the former president.

Continue reading...

Florida tells schools AP Psychology course with LGBTQ+ content violates law

Posted on by

Ron DeSantis’s government has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively also banning the class

Florida has told school superintendents that the Advanced Placement psychology course offered to high school students violates the state’s new law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively banning the class, the non-profit that develops the courses said on Thursday.

The move is the latest by the administration of Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor, to limit instruction about LGBTQ+ issues and race in the state. DeSantis is challenging Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and has made battles over cultural issues a centerpiece of his campaign.

Continue reading...

Top US doctors’ group backs gender-affirming care amid rightwing attacks

Posted on by

American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms support for transgender children in face of growing push for restrictions across US

The American Academy of Pediatrics has reaffirmed its support for gender-affirming medical care for transgender children, even as the treatments face a growing push for bans and restrictions from Republican lawmakers across the US.

The board of directors for the group, which represents 67,000 pediatricians, unanimously voted to reaffirm its 2018 position on the treatments. The board also voted to provide additional documents to support pediatricians, including clinical and technical reports, and to conduct an external review of research regarding the care.

Continue reading...

Trump pleads not guilty to four charges over efforts to overturn 2020 election

Posted on by

Ex-president arraigned on four felony counts related to ‘criminal scheme’ to remain in office as Trump laments ‘sad day for America’

Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, marking the third time this year the former president has been forced to respond to a criminal indictment.

Trump was arrested and arraigned on four felony counts outlined in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

Continue reading...

Trump arraignment key takeaways: four charges and a swift return date

Posted on by

The ex-president was hit with four felony counts over efforts to overturn the election, and another hearing is due this month

Donald Trump’s third arraignment took place in a Washington courthouse on Thursday, the usual throng of media and smattering of protestors outside.

But as routine as a Trump indictment may seem to the public eye, this was the first time the former president has faced accountability for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.

Conspiracy against rights.

Continue reading...

US navy sailors arrested on charges of passing sensitive material to China

Posted on by

Jinchao Wei, 22, and Wenheng Zhao, 26, accused in separate cases of ‘violating commitments they made to protect the United States’

Two US navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, US officials said on Thursday.

Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested on Wednesday on a charge related to espionage involving conspiracy to sending national defense information to Chinese officials. In a separate case, the justice department charged Wenheng Zhao, 26, for allegedly collecting bribes in exchange for giving sensitive US military photos and videos to a Chinese intelligence officer.

Continue reading...

Trump pleads not guilty to January 6 charges and claims arraignment is ‘sad day for America’ – as it happened

Posted on by

In the minutes after the Trump indictment was filed in federal district court in Washington, conservative commentators rapidly scrambled to his defense. Rightwing pundits lined up to compare the charges to “criminalizing thoughts” and the dropping of “fifteen dozen” atomic bombs – and that was just on Fox News.

Rightwing TV channel Newsmax, which has drained some of Fox News’s audience in recent months, brought on Rudy Giuliani, an unnamed co-conspirator in Tuesday’s indictment, who railed for seven minutes about Hillary Clinton’s emails and Biden being a “crooked president”.

Continue reading...

‘Sensationalized stories’: Lizzo denies allegations waged by former dancers

Posted on by

Lawsuit filed by three of the singer’s tour dancers alleged she sexually harassed them and created a hostile work environment

Lizzo has spoken out in response to several of her tour dancers waging allegations of sexual harassment against her, calling their claims “sensationalized stories”.

Earlier this week, a lawsuit filed by three of the singer’s tour dancers alleged that Lizzo had sexually harassed them and created a hostile work environment through sexual, racial and religious harassment in various incidents between 2021 and 2023.

Continue reading...

Niger junta cancels France military ties as Biden calls for Bazoum’s release

Posted on by

US statement comes as ousted president says he is being held hostage and calls on international community to restore order

Joe Biden has called for the immediate release of Niger’s elected president and for the country’s democracy to be restored, in the highest profile statement by the US since the coup that removed Mohamed Bazoum from power, as Senegal also ramped up the pressure by saying its troops would join a a military intervention if necessary.

“I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” the US president said in a statement on Thursday, the 63rd anniversary of Niger’s independence. “In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honour our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance.”

Continue reading...

US healthcare workers focus on pay and understaffing in fight for new contracts

Posted on by

Over 85,000 workers hold pickets at 50 facilities across US as union contracts set to expire on 30 September

Unions representing more than 85,000 healthcare workers have held pickets at 50 facilities across California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado amid new contract negotiations as their current union contracts are set to expire on 30 September.

The negotiations at Kaiser Permanente are the third largest set of contract negotiations in the US in 2023, behind the 340,000 workers at UPS who will be voting on a tentative agreement this month that was reached days before planned strike action, and 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis whose contracts are set to expire on 14 September.

Continue reading...