Former secretary of state and Trump ally decides not to challenge ex-boss for the Republican nomination
Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Friday that he will not run for president in the 2024 election.
The devoted ally and defender of Donald Trump opted out of a contest that would have put him into competition with his former commander in chief.
Continue reading...US president says Ireland trip ‘reinforced my sense of optimism about what can be done’
Joe Biden left Ireland in the early hours of Saturday vowing to run again for president, promising to formally announce his decision to run for a second presidential term “relatively soon”.
At the same time he spoke of his hope of an epoch of renewal in Northern Ireland, restating the “incredible” US investment opportunities that lay ahead if peace endures.
Continue reading...The right has, for decades, relied on abortion to rally their conservative base, but now their unified policy is flagging
Democrats have taken multiple actions in response to what they say is a “draconian” and “dangerous” decision by a federal judge in Texas threatening access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the US.
Several Democratic governors have begun to stockpile doses of the drugs used in medication abortions. Nearly every Democrat in Congress signed onto an amicus brief urging an appeals court to stay the decision, while some called on the Biden administration to simply “ignore” the ruling, should it be allowed to stand. A group of House Democrats introduced a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) final approval over drugs used in medication abortion.
Continue reading...Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Jack Teixeira ‘white, male, Christian and anti-war’ as Tucker Carlson says his sin was ‘telling the truth’
Washington lawmakers have written off Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old air national guardsman accused of being behind the worst US intelligence leak in a decade, as an “alleged criminal” after his arrest yesterday, but that hasn’t stopped him from winning praise from the political right.
“He revealed the crimes, therefore he’s the criminal. That’s how Washington works. Telling the truth is the only real sin,” declared the Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson on Thursday evening in the opening monologue of his show, which is the most watched on cable television. “The news media are celebrating the capture of the kid who told Americans what’s actually happening in Ukraine. They are treating him like Osama bin Laden,” the late al-Qaida terrorist leader.
Continue reading...Aevin Dugas wins Guinness world record for third time in 13 years, with a circumference of 5ft 5in
The Louisiana woman who has set the Guinness world record for the largest afro three different times in the last 13 years says she keeps breaking the mark to personally vouch for the beauty of natural hair.
“I didn’t decide to grow an afro as much as I decided to go natural,” Aevin Dugas told Guinness World Records in an interview earlier this month. “It’s about pride in textured hair which leads to self-love.”
Continue reading...Nima Momeni, who appeared in court, is suspected of stabbing the Cash App founder with a kitchen knife and leaving him to die
The killing of the Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco last week was a “planned and deliberate attack”, prosecutors in the case said in a court document on Friday.
Officials allege Nima Momeni, a 38-year-old tech consultant, brought Lee to a secluded spot and stabbed him three times with a kitchen knife over an argument related to the Momeni’s sister.
Continue reading...Member of air national guard, 21, accused of leaking sensitive documents pertaining to US intelligence
“This is not just about taking home documents,” US attorney general Merrick Garland said about the Pentagon leaks.
“This is about … both the unlawful retention and transmission of the documents … There are very serious penalties associated with that. People who sign agreements to be able to receive classified documents acknowledge the importance to national security of not disclosing those documents and we intend to send that message to our national security,” he added.
“The first public reporting regarding the Government Information appeared on or around April 6, 2023. Accordingly, there is reason to believe that Texeira was searching for classified reporting regarding the US Intelligence Community’s assessment of the identity of the individual who transmitted classified national defense information to include the Government Document,” it added.
Continue reading...Temporary pause on lower court rulings gives court additional time to consider a longer stay
Danco Laboratories has said that they will continue to distribute the abortion pill, according to an email from the company.
Reuters reported that the company emailed a statement confirming that they will still continue to dispense Mifeprex to its customers.
Continue reading...Jacob Frey makes remark during announcement that Minneapolis reached $8.9m settlement in two excessive force lawsuits
The mayor of Minneapolis said George Floyd would still be alive if the city’s police department had “done the right thing” and fired officer Derek Chauvin in 2017 after complaints he knelt on the necks of two people he arrested.
Jacob Frey was speaking at a press conference Thursday announcing the city had reached a $8.9m settlement in two excessive force lawsuits.
Continue reading...US president, whose son Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, tearful after chance meeting with Fr Frank O’Grady in Co Mayo
Joe Biden broke down in tears on the final day of his four-day trip to Ireland after a chance meeting with the priest who gave his son Beau the last rites before he died in 2015.
Fr Richard Gibbons, parish priest and rector of Knock Shrine, said Fr Frank O’Grady – the chaplain who was by Beau Biden’s side as he died – had moved to Knock to work there, leading to an unplanned meeting with the president.
Continue reading...Government to seek 10 years on each of two charges, says prosecutor in Boston court
Jack Teixeira, the air national guardsman arrested on suspicion of leaking hundreds of secret defence documents, has been charged in a Boston court on two counts under the Espionage Act as Washington reeled from the fallout of the worst leaks of US intelligence in at least a decade.
The clean-cut 21-year-old was brought into court in a beige jumpsuit, and his handcuffs were removed by a bailiff. He sat quietly, turning only once to three family members to smile weakly.
Continue reading...Limits slated to go into effect at 12.01am Saturday following lower court’s order revoking the FDA’s approval of mifepristone
The Biden administration appealed to the US supreme court on Friday asking it to halt an appellate ruling that adds onerous restrictions to a key abortion drug. The restrictions were slated to go into effect at 12.01am on Saturday morning.
The ruling at the center of the emergency application to the high court was issued on Wednesday night by the fifth circuit court of appeals. The US Department of Justice had asked the appeals court to block a lower court order revoking the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone in 2000.
Continue reading...Broadcaster leaves platform a day after NPR’s exit over concerns labels undermine credibility as independent news outlets
The US’s Public Broadcasting Service, better known as PBS, has quit its use of Twitter after the platform labeled the organization as “government-funded media”.
PBS’s announced its Twitter exit on Thursday, one day after National Public Radio also left the platform amid comments by the Twitter owner, Elon Musk, that NPR was “state-affiliated media” which should be defunded. Twitter has since relabeled NPR as “government-funded media”, but that did not stop the radio broadcaster saying that the labels for it and the television broadcaster PBS were aimed at undermining their credibility as independent news outlets.
Continue reading...US president turned his farewell speech outside St Muredach’s cathedral in Ballina into a celebration of Irish and American values
Joe Biden has concluded his visit to Ireland with a passionate riverside address to tens of thousands of people at his ancestral town in County Mayo.
The US president turned his farewell speech outside St Muredach’s cathedral in Ballina on Friday night into a celebration of Irish and American values that appeared partly aimed at US voters.
Continue reading...Charges filed against cartel leaders, alleged chemical suppliers, lab managers, traffickers and others in fentanyl investigation
The US justice department has charged 28 members of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel, including sons of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in a sprawling fentanyl-trafficking investigation.
The attorney general, Merrick Garland, announced the charges on Friday alongside the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief, Anne Milgram, and other top federal prosecutors. The charges were filed against cartel leaders, as well alleged chemical suppliers, lab managers, fentanyl traffickers, security leaders, financiers and weapons traffickers.
Continue reading...Intercept of Russian intelligence shows Beijing wanted to disguise lethal aid as civilian items, says report
China approved the provision of lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine but wanted any shipments to remain a secret, according to leaked US government documents.
A top-secret intelligence summary dated 23 February states that Beijing had approved the incremental provision of weapons to Moscow, which it would disguise as civilian items, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Continue reading...Deal with Colombia and Panama aims to halt refugees crossing the lawless jungle region, but some say dangers will only increase
A US-backed plan to stop migrants from crossing the lawless Darién Gap will likely fail and only push desperate people further into the hands of merciless people-trafficking organisations, migration experts have warned.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday that it had brokered a deal with the Colombian and Panamanian governments to halt migrants crossing the land bridge on their journey northward to the US.
Continue reading...Former IT specialist, 21, arrested on Thursday is accused of intelligence leak believed to have started on Discord
The 21-year-old suspect in the recent leaks of Pentagon intelligence is due to appear in court on Friday.
Jack Teixeira was detained at his home by FBI agents, the US attorney general Merrick Garland announced on Thursday. The arrest was made “in connection with an investigation into an alleged unauthorised removal, retention and transmission of classified national defence information”, he said.
Continue reading...Bill gives governor key political victory ahead of expected presidential campaign
The Republican-dominated Florida legislature on Thursday approved a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a proposal supported by the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, as he prepares for an expected presidential run.
DeSantis, a Republican, later signed the bill into law. “We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” he said in a statement. Florida currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks.
Continue reading...The 21-year-old air national guardsman was arrested in Massachusetts in connection with the leaking of Pentagon intelligence documents
The US Department of Justice arrested 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a suspect in the recent leaks of Pentagon intelligence online, US attorney general Merrick Garland announced on Thursday. The arrest was made “in connection with an investigation into an alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information,” said Garland.
Teixeira was detained at his home in the town of North Dighton, Massachusetts, by FBI agents. Helicopter news footage showed a young man with shorn dark hair, an olive green T-shirt and red shorts being made to walk backwards towards a team of agents, who were pointing their rifles at him. Teixeira will appear in court in Massachusetts on Friday.
Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder said the leak of classified information was a “deliberate, criminal act.” He added that the Pentagon had taken measures to review distribution lists and make sure that individuals who receive information had a need to know.
The leak is believed to have started on a site called Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games and where Teixeira is believed to have posted for years about guns, games and racist memes.
The investigative website Bellingcat and The New York Times first publicly identified Teixeira, minutes before federal officials confirmed he was a subject of interest in the investigation. They reported tracking profiles on other more obscure sites linked to Teixeira.
Teixeira was a “cyber transport systems specialist”, essentially an IT specialist responsible for military communications networks, including their cabling and hubs. A defence official has told the Associated Press that in that role Teixeira would have had a higher level of security clearance – because he would have also been tasked with ensuring protection for the networks.
The likely charges, if proved, could each carry up to 10 years’ imprisonment, even if the leaker did not intend to cause harm, said Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor. Prosecutors could treat each leaked document as a separate count in his indictment.
Among the clues that lead to Teixeira’s arrest were the kitchen countertop and floor tiles in his childhood home – the surfaces appeared in the background of pictures of the leaked documents.
Teixeira is believed to have been the leader of an online chat group where hundreds of photographs of secret and top-secret documents were first uploaded, from late last year to March. The online group called itself Thug Shaker Central, made up of 20 to 30 young men and teenagers brought together by an enthusiasm for guns, military gear and video games. Racist language was a common feature of the group.
Speaking in Ireland, Joe Biden sought to play down the impact of the breach. “I’m not concerned about the leak,” Biden said. “I’m concerned that it happened. But there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of great consequence.”
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene sought to cast Teixeira as a right-wing hero, writing on Twitter, “Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and anti-war. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime.”
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