Category Archives: US News

Aukus: nuclear submarines deal will cost Australia up to $368bn

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‘Rotational forces’ of US and UK nuclear-powered submarines set to visit Australia from 2027 as part of landmark pact

Australia is to embark on one of its most significant, expensive and geopolitically consequential military tasks in a century: the push to acquire, operate – and eventually build – nuclear-powered submarines.

The program is forecast to cost $268bn to $368bn between now and the mid 2050s, most of it beyond the first four-year budget period, and will depend on help from the US and the UK.

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US border patrol closes bridge to Juárez after rumor causes migrant rush

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Hundreds of migrants tried to race across the Paso del Norte bridge to El Paso after false internet post said the border was open

Hundreds of people near an El Paso, Texas, border crossing who tried to enter the US from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Sunday were met with physical barricades erected by shield-wielding authorities, according to reports on what is the latest episode to pit US immigration officials against a group of migrants.

Many of the migrants, who were largely Venezuelan, had gone to the center of the Paso del Norte international bridge to determine whether a rumor that the border had been temporarily opened to them was true, the Texas Tribune reported. Many trying to flee lives in Mexico, where they cannot legally work and are often confronted by police, had hurried through toll booths on the Mexican side of the bridge and arrived at the center.

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‘Banking system is safe’: Joe Biden reassures markets in address on Silicon Valley Bank collapse – live updates

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Failure of bank last weak sparked fears of financial crisis, as US government announces plans to stabilize situation

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Silicon Valley Bank: global banking shares slide as fallout spreads

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Stock markets fail to be reassured by Joe Biden’s intervention, as SVB failure is followed by Signature

Global financial markets have come under severe pressure after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, despite governments on both sides of the Atlantic taking extraordinary measures to maintain confidence in the banking system.

On a day conjuring up memories of the 2008 financial crisis, the US president, Joe Biden, sought to restore calm by insisting the US banking system remained safe, while HSBC stepped in to buy the UK arm of the failed technology lender after a deal brokered by the British government and the Bank of England.

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Three-year-old girl accidentally shoots sister, 4, dead in Texas

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Girl killed sibling in family home with semi-automatic pistol but unclear if any of five adults present will face charges

In a case that starkly illustrates the deadly consequences that the US’s permissive gun culture has on the country’s youth, a three-year-old girl accidentally shot her four-year-old sister to death in their Texas home late on Sunday, according to authorities.

First responders found the slain girl while responding to an emergency call at 7.30pm about an injured minor at an apartment in suburban Houston, the local sheriff’s office said in a statement. She was there with five adults – including her mother and stepfather – when her older sister grabbed a loaded semi-automatic pistol and shot her, first responders learned.

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Eyes roll at ‘cringey’ jokes amid Irish disappointment at Oscars haul

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Ireland wins just two awards, for best special effects and best live-action short, after being nominated for 14

Ireland had hoped for Oscar glory but instead ended up the butt of jokes about drinking, fighting and incomprehensible accents as it claimed just a couple of the coveted golden statuettes.

Just two awards out of 14 nominations was disappointment enough but Hollywood added insult to injury with national tropes that elicited eye rolls in Ireland.

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First Thing: Everything Everywhere All at Once triumphs at Oscars

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Multiverse fantasy picks up seven awards including best picture and best actress while All Quiet on the Western Front wins four. Plus, long shadow of US invasion of Iraq still looms 20 years on

Good morning.

Everything Everywhere All at Once has dominated this year’s Oscars, winning seven awards including best picture in a big night for Asian and Asian American representation.

How did Everything Everywhere All At Once sweep the Oscars? A combination of old-fashioned star power and zeitgeisty marketing captured Oscar voters (and audiences) across the board.

Did anyone bring up the slap? Yes. Host Jimmy Kimmel laid into Will Smith, saying: “If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute-long speech.”

Where can I find the full list of winners? All the winners and losers from the 95th Academy Awards are here.

Is Fox standing by its stars? So far, yes. On Thursday, Lachlan Murdoch, the eldest son, heir apparent and executive chair and chief executive of Fox Corporation, expressed support for management, its roster of stars and backed Fox News’s editorial standards.

What else is happening? As Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation battles to contain the Dominion lawsuit scandal that has engulfed its top executives and stars, another crisis is building that has the potential to cause further turbulence for the media empire.

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‘I was screaming’: Malaysia and Vietnam celebrate Oscars triumphs

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Film fans in south-east Asia hail Everything Everywhere All at Once stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan

Cinema fans across south-east Asia have celebrated groundbreaking Oscar wins for the Malaysian film star Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, who was born in Vietnam.

Yeoh, the first person of south-east Asian descent to win the best actress award, for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, described her victory on Sunday night as “history in the making”.

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Silicon Valley Bank collapse ‘could force central banks to stop interest rate rises’

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Analysts say US Federal Reserve will probably reject further increase in borrowing costs next week

The world’s most powerful central banks could be forced to stop raising interest rates after the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, economists have said, amid growing signs of financial stress linked to rapid increases in borrowing costs over the past year.

Analysts said the US Federal Reserve would probably leave interest rates on hold at its decision next week, as the meltdown at the California-based technology lender ripples through global financial markets.

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Republican response to the January 6 Capitol attack divides party

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Line are drawn between the extremist wing and those who distance themselves from portraying the rioters as ‘sightseers’

Some Republicans have rebuked efforts by Donald Trump and Fox News host Tucker Carlson to whitewash the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, underscoring a significant split in the party over attempts to downplay the events of the day.

Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, turned over more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the Capitol to Carlson earlier this year. This week, Carlson aired selectively edited portions of that footage, falsely claiming the rioters were “sightseers” and “not insurrectionists”. At least 1,000 people have been arrested for their role in the January 6 attack. Five people died as a result of it.

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John Bolton chose not to brief Trump on Russia Havana syndrome suspicion

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Former national security adviser tells podcast ‘we didn’t feel we would get support’ from president during Russia investigation

Donald Trump’s third national security adviser, John Bolton, did not brief the president on suspicions Russia might be behind mysterious “Havana syndrome” attacks on US diplomats because he did not think Trump would support him.

“Since our concern was that one of the perpetrators – maybe the perpetrator – was Russia,” Bolton said, “we didn’t feel we would get support from President Trump if we said, ‘We think the Russians are coming after American personnel.’”

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Long shadow of US invasion of Iraq still looms over international order

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‘Tell me, how does this end?’ asked US general David Petraeus during first push to Baghdad in 2003

The French statesman Georges Clemenceau once said: “War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.” In the case of the invasion of Iraq, however, the war that began 20 years ago started in victory and has ended in a series of catastrophes.

The main US military pullout from Iraq was ultimately completed by 2011, finally answering the question posed by Gen David Petraeus during that first push to Baghdad in 2003: “Tell me, how does this end?” Yet the long shadow of the invasion still looms over the international order, staining the reputation of those who instigated it and the political process itself, and dealing a heavy blow to the self-confidence that the west felt in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

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North Korea fires cruise missiles as US-South Korean military drills begin

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Test came as Washington and Seoul prepared to kick-off their largest joint military exercises in five years

Nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported, just as US-South Korea military drills were due to begin.

“Strategic” is typically used to describe weapons that have a nuclear capability.

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UK racing to secure deal to protect firms from Silicon Valley Bank collapse

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Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt explore options to help tech and life sciences sectors

The UK government is scrambling to secure an emergency deal to protect Britain’s tech and life sciences sectors from major losses after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), as financial markets braced for further volatility after the biggest bank failure since 2008.

The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, signalled on Sunday that they were exploring a range of options, including an emergency fund that could provide a cash lifeline to support startups, as bidders put their hat in the ring for a potential takeover of the UK subsidiary.

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Another ‘atmospheric river’ threatens to hit California as state reels from storms

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Storm expected to hit Monday after weekend of destruction and flooding left thousands without power and two people dead

Another “atmospheric river” storm was expected to hit California on Monday, after thousands of residents were left without power following a weekend of heavy rainfall, powerful floods and deadly destruction.

Atmospheric rivers, streams of moisture that transport water vapor from the tropics following evaporation of warm water in the Pacific, are often accompanied by powerful winds and destructive flooding.

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Yellen rejects Silicon Valley Bank bailout as regulators auction assets

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US treasury secretary says Biden administration is working closely with regulators to help depositors as fears of banking crisis rise

The US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said on Sunday there would be no bailout for Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed this week, raising fears of a crisis, but also said the Biden administration was working with regulators to help depositors hit by the fall of SVB.

Yellen said conditions did not match the 2008 financial crisis, when the collapse of large institutions threatened to bring down the global financial system. She also sought to calm fears the $23tn US banking system could be affected by the fall of a regional bank.

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At least eight dead after boat capsizes in Pacific off San Diego

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Search continues for seven more people after small craft suspected to have been carrying 15 migrants overturned off Black’s Beach

At least eight people were killed when two suspected smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach and one capsized, authorities said. Crews were searching on Sunday for an estimated seven additional victims.

A woman on one of the panga-style boats called 911 late on Saturday to report that the other vessel overturned in waves off Black’s Beach, US coast guard petty officer Richard Brahm said.

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Why Silicon Valley Bank was so important to UK tech sector

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SVB specialised in high-growth startups, solving problems other lenders would not touch

Silicon Valley Bank’s name isn’t just hollow branding. Founded in Santa Clara in the 1980s, in the heart of the Bay Area’s tech cluster, it was a regional bank that served the local economy.

As that local economy became the engine of American growth, SVB – which collapsed on Friday – grew alongside it. It remained a tech specialist, a limitation that allowed it to continue to be regulated as a regional bank and so avoid the stricter requirements piled on larger competitors, but otherwise spread across the US and the world.

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Trump should quit 2024 race if indicted in New York, Republican rival says

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Ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson: man facing charge over porn star payment should ‘respect institution of the presidency’

Donald Trump should quit the race for the Republican nomination in 2024 if he is indicted in New York over a hush money payment to a porn star during his victorious run in 2016, a prospective rival said.

“It doesn’t mean that he’s guilty of it or he should be charged,” said Asa Hutchinson, a former governor of Arkansas. “But it’s just such a distraction that would be unnecessary for somebody who’s seeking the highest office in the land.”

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Mike Pence: history will hold Donald Trump accountable over Capitol attack

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Former vice-president, speaking at Gridiron dinner, says it ‘mocks decency’ to portray January 6 as anything other than a ‘disgrace’

Mike Pence has offered a rebuke of his one-time boss Donald Trump, saying history will hold the former president accountable for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Pence, then vice-president, was in the Capitol when thousands of Trump supporters breached the building in an attempt to stop Congress certifying the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

Reuters contributed reporting

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