Category Archives: US News

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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Eight is Enough actor Adam Rich died of fentanyl effects, autopsy report says

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Child actor known as ‘America’s little brother’ for his role on the hit family show died in Los Angeles home on 7 January at age 54

The effects of fentanyl are considered the cause of death for Adam Rich, the child actor known as “America’s little brother” for his role on the hit family dramedy Eight is Enough.

The former television star’s death this January has been ruled an accident by the Los Angeles county medical-examiner coroner’s office, according to an autopsy report.

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Abortion demonstrations expected across US to mark a year since Roe was overturned – live

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Campaigners set to hold events across the country on first anniversary of supreme court overturning constitutional right to abortion

Several reproductive rights organizations have announced their endorsement of the Biden-Harris administration in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

The organizations include Planned Parenthood, NARAL (National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws) Pro-Choice America , and EMILYs List, a political action committee dedicated to electing Democratic pro-choice women into office.

“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been committed to fighting back against the onslaught of attacks against our reproductive freedom. And we need them to continue this critical work.

Abortion is health care… We need leaders who are committed to protecting our freedoms, not taking them away. That is why we must re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris: people we can trust to keep rebuilding a path forward, because we know the journey to rebuilding our rights will be met with challenges,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are the strongest advocates for reproductive freedom ever to occupy the White House, and NARAL Pro-Choice America proudly endorses their reelection. It’s as simple as this: Abortion matters to Americans. In elections since the Supreme Court took away our right to abortion, voters have mobilized in massive numbers to elect Democrats who will fight to restore it...”

EMILYs List president Laphonza Butler released the following statement:

“When the Dobbs decision ended a constitutional right for the first time in this country’s history, we were grateful to have leaders in the White House like President Biden and Vice President Harris, who have been vocal advocates for abortion rights across the government and across the country… For her work as a groundbreaker, tireless advocate for reproductive freedom, and inspiring change-maker, EMILYs List is thrilled to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for reelection.”

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The fight over US abortion rights in the year without Roe – photo essay

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A look back on the year since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade with the Dobbs decision, and the advocates who aren’t giving up

While the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade sent shockwaves around the country, many activists, physicians and advocacy groups closely engaged in the fight over abortion in the US were not surprised.

Since Roe’s establishment of the federal right to abortion in 1973, anti-abortion advocates and conservative lawmakers have been chipping away at it. Restrictions on abortion increased over the last decade, and by the mid-2010s, seven states had just one abortion clinic left. In Mississippi, where the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that ultimately ended Roe originated, the state’s one clinic did not provide abortions beyond 16 weeks of pregnancy, meaning many people already had to travel to find care.

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Record-breaking Texas heatwave enters third week as thousands lose power

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New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas also face scorching temperatures as heat dome settles over US south-west

A record-breaking heat wave is entering its third week in Texas, as temperatures reach triple digits in the broader US south and tens of thousands of people in affected states are without power and lack air conditioning.

More than 40 million people in the US are under a heat alert.

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Why the Titan’s fate gripped us – even as all hope vanished

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Real stories of people in peril, the Titanic submersible trip to the Thai cave disaster, affirm a collective wish for human ingenuity and spirit to triumph

The discovery of wreckage from the Titan submersible last Thursday on the North Atlantic seabed close to the wreck of the Titanic brought to an end a five-day vigil of hope around the globe. The chances of rescuing the five occupants of the missing sub always appeared slight, but it was perhaps the very unlikeliness of that outcome that increased the appetite to see it realised.

In the era of 24-hour news, few events grab the public imagination quite as firmly as a real-time people-in-peril story. And it’s hard to imagine a more extreme or unpleasant peril than being trapped in deep sea in a craft the size of a minivan, as the oxygen supply runs out, and there is nothing to do but attempt to control your breathing in a situation that screams panic.

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Republicans scramble to limit electoral backlash against abortion bans

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Supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade sparked a slew of state-level restrictions but anti-abortion stance has proved a vote-loser

In the months since the supreme court voted to overturn Roe v Wade last year, the effects of the court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization have become clear. Over a dozen states across the country have passed legislation limiting or outright banning access to abortions, severely restricting reproductive rights for millions of people and threatening to imprison abortion providers.

But as Republicans have pushed through these bills, voters have also taken every opportunity to rebuke them in elections – leading to defeats in midterms and emerging as one of the GOP’s largest vulnerabilities.

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‘We’re going to keep fighting’: delivery workers stand up to Amazon

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Unionized workers at delivery service partner in California fight company’s intent to terminate contract

Amazon is embroiled in a fight with workers at one of its delivery service partners in what union activists say is part of a longstanding anti-union drive by the retail giant which is now facing scrutiny in the US Senate for its anti-labor rights practices.

At Battle Tested Strategies, an Amazon delivery service partner in Palmdale, California, workers are currently fighting Amazon’s intent to terminate the delivery service partner’s contract on Saturday.

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US officials release bodycam video of man’s fatal shooting by border agents

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Raymond Mattia, 58, shot dead in remote corner of Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona last month

Federal US officials have released body camera footage that shows border patrol agents were concerned that a tribal member they fatally shot last month may have been carrying a handgun during an encounter in a remote corner of the Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona.

The man, Raymond Mattia, 58, died shortly after the shooting the night of 18 May outside a home in the reservation’s Menagers Dam community near the US-Mexico border.

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Biden puts abortion rights at center of campaign on Roe reversal anniversary

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President announces executive order to boost access to contraception as Republicans call for national restrictions

Joe Biden on Friday put reproductive rights squarely in the middle of his 2024 re-election campaign as the US president hosted a rally based around defending abortion rights, notched three high-profile endorsements from groups dedicated to the issue, and announced an executive order aimed at boosting access to contraception.

The moves came in stark contrast to the Republican field of candidates, many of whom were attending the Faith & Freedom Coalition annual conference in Washington DC.

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James Cameron calls Titan submersible design ‘critically flawed’

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Film-maker who has dived to Titanic wreckage more than 30 times says it was ‘only a matter of time’ before tragedy occurred

Veteran deep-sea explorer and film-maker James Cameron said on Friday that the design of the Titan submersible was “critically flawed”, and it was “only a matter of time” before the tragedy occurred – as Canada’s transportation safety board said it was launching an investigation.

“People in the deep sea submergence engineering community warned the company that this could lead to catastrophic failure,” Cameron told ABC’s Good Morning America show on Friday morning, referring to the carbon fiber hull of the 22ft (6.7m) vessel.

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Pence tells Republicans to take hard line on abortion despite electoral liability

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Former vice-president calls for federal 15-week ‘minimum’ ban in contrast to Trump who suggested issue cost party votes

Speaking one year since the US supreme court removed the federal right to abortion, Mike Pence said candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination should stand firm on the electorally unpopular issue and take a hard line on bringing in national limits.

“For me, for our campaign, we’re going to stand where we’ve always stood, and that is without apology for the right to life,” the former congressman, Indiana governor and vice-president to Donald Trump told Politico.

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US charges Chinese individuals and firms over fentanyl chemical trafficking

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Four companies and eight individuals charged with shipping enough precursor chemicals into US to kill ‘25m Americans’

The US justice department has filed criminal charges against four Chinese chemical manufacturing companies and eight individuals over allegations they illegally trafficked the chemicals used to make fentanyl, a highly addictive painkiller that has fueled the opioid crisis in the United States.

It is the first time the United States has charged Chinese companies for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals inside the United States, rather than shipping them to Mexico, the origin of most of the fentanyl found in the country.

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