Category Archives: US News

Fate of US abortion drug hangs in balance ahead of Friday deadline

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Mifepristone will lose its FDA approval this week unless an appeals court intervenes in a case likely to reach the supreme court

FDA authorization for a key abortion drug could be nullified after Friday, unless an appeals court acts on a Biden administration request to block last week’s ruling suspending approval of the drug.

The drug, mifepristone, is used in more than half of all the abortions in the US. The ruling, issued by a federal judge in Texas, applies across the country.

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‘Small like a ball’: Pearl the chihuahua becomes world’s shortest dog

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Pearl is shorter than the standard television remote and about as long as a dollar bill, Guinness World Records says

What do you call a chihuahua dog that’s shorter than a popsicle stick and can fit in your pocket? The planet’s shortest living dog, Guinness World Records has announced.

Pearl qualified for the title after a veterinarian at the Crystal Creek animal hospital in Orlando, Florida, where she was born, used a special dog-measuring wicket to determine she was just under 3.6in (9.14cm) tall and 5in (12.7cm) long. Those dimensions mean she is shorter than the standard television remote and about as long as a dollar bill, Guinness said in a statement.

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As the west tries to limit TikTok’s reach, what about China’s other apps?

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With government concerns over national security growing, Beijing’s influence over platforms such as WeChat and Shein could come under scrutiny

As TikTok, the world’s most popular app, comes under increasing scrutiny in response to data privacy and security concerns, lawmakers in the west may soon set their sights on other Chinese platforms that have gone global.

TikTok was built by ByteDance as a foreign version of its popular domestic video-sharing platform, Douyin. But it is far from being ByteDance’s only overseas moneymaker. The Chinese company owns dozens of apps that are available overseas, many of them English-language versions of Chinese offerings.

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Fox News under fire for ‘credibility problem’ over late disclosure of Murdoch role

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Judge chided firm’s lawyers after they revealed for the first time in nearly two years owner’s executive chairman title

A judge said Fox News had a “credibility problem” as it prepares for a $1.6bn defamation trial after the company disclosed for the first time in nearly two years of litigation that Rupert Murdoch was an officer of the company.

On Monday, Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp head to trial over Fox’s coverage of false election-rigging claims. Murdoch, chairman of Fox Corp, is expected to testify.

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‘We have to move fast’: US looks to establish rules for artificial intelligence

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The commerce department has requested public comment on AI accountability measures to ensure privacy and transparency

The US government is taking its first tentative steps toward establishing rules for artificial intelligence tools, as the frenzy over generative AI and chatbots reach a fever pitch.

The US commerce department on Tuesday announced it is officially requesting public comment on how to create accountability measures for AI, seeking help on how to advise US policymakers to approach the technology.

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Mayor says Louisville shooter’s rifle ‘will be back on the streets’ under state law

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Kentucky law requires officers to send assault-style rifle used in shooting to state police officials to sell at auction

The mayor of Louisville has said Kentucky law would make him a criminal if he destroys the assault-style rifle used by a gunman in Monday’s killing of five bank employees in his city.

An emotional Craig Greenberg was speaking Tuesday at a lunchtime press conference during which police revealed the killer – an employee at the Old National Bank who also wounded eight others, including two critically – bought the weapon legally six days previously.

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EY plan to break up consultancy and audit divisions blocked by US office

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Accountancy firm confirms work has stopped on radical scheme after internal concerns about structure

EY has scrapped plans for a radical breakup of its global operations after internal disputes over the potential structure of the new businesses.

The company started laying the groundwork for separating its audit and advisory businesses – under the codename Project Everest – last year, as the big four accounting firms faced mounting criticism about conflicts of interest between the two divisions.

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Tupperware warns it could go bust without emergency funding

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Shares in US firm have fallen almost 50% this week and stock exchange says it is in danger of being delisted

Tupperware, the American plastic food container business founded by the chemist Earl Tupper 77 years ago, has predicted it will go bust unless it can raise emergency funds.

Shares in the Massachusetts firm, which became famous in the 1950s and 1960s when mostly women held “Tupperware parties” to sell its plastic containers with patented “burping” seal, crashed almost 50% this week after it told investors there was “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

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US feared Ukraine could fall ‘well short’ in spring counter-offensive, leaks reveal

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‘Top secret’ document reportedly warned Kyiv faced shortfalls in troops and weaponry and suggested any gains would be modest

US intelligence reportedly warned in February that Ukraine might fail to amass sufficient troops and weaponry for its planned spring counter-offensive, and might fall “well short” of Kyiv’s goals for recapturing territory seized by Russia, according to one of a trove of leaked defence documents.

A document tagged as “top secret” quoted by the Washington Post said that Kyiv was facing significant “force generation and sustainment shortfalls” and was therefore only likely to achieve “modest territorial gains”. The document is a snapshot of the situation in early February, and it is unclear how far Ukraine, with the support of Nato member states, has been able to make up the shortfalls since then.

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Up to 50 UK special forces present in Ukraine this year, US leak suggests

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Documents appear to list number of western special forces personnel in Ukraine in February and March

Leaked US military documents indicate that the UK has deployed as many as 50 special forces to Ukraine.

The documents suggest that more than half of the western special forces personnel present in Ukraine between February and March this year may have been British.

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Joe Biden to meet Rishi Sunak before keynote speech at Ulster University

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President expected to emphasise US’s commitment to ensuring peace in Northern Ireland as he begins visit to island of Ireland

Joe Biden will hold a meeting with Rishi Sunak in Belfast on Wednesday before a keynote speech in which he is expected to emphasise the US’s commitment to ensuring lasting peace and prosperity for Northern Ireland.

US officials said the president would be “underscoring the readiness of the United States to support Northern Ireland’s vast economic potential to the benefit of all communities” with the prospect of major investments if power-sharing is restored in Stormont.

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Row between Twitter and Substack ends with uneasy truce

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Social media site stops censoring links and searches for newsletter platform after launch of rival microblogging service

A six-day row between Twitter and Substack has come to an uneasy truce after the social media site stopped censoring links and searches for the newsletter platform following the latter’s decision to launch a rival microblogging service.

However, the spat appears to have put an end to Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files” project, after he tweeted then deleted screenshots of a conversation between himself and one of its writers, Matt Taibbi, in which the pair sparred over the censorship.

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Elizabeth Holmes to begin 11-year prison sentence at end of month

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Federal judge denies Theranos founder’s request to remain free while she appeals her conviction of fraud and conspiracy

Elizabeth Holmes must begin her more than 11-year prison sentence on 27 April after a federal judge denied the disgraced Theranos founder’s request to remain free while she appeals her conviction.

Holmes, who was convicted on four counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the failed blood-testing startup in January 2022, is “not likely to flee or pose a danger” to the public, US district court judge Edward Davila wrote in his ruling. However, the San Jose-based judge found that her appeal was unlikely to result in a reversal of the verdict or a new trial – a requirement for a defendant to remain free post-conviction.

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One in five Americans has had family member killed by gun violence – study

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Research, published a day after five shot dead at Louisville bank, reflects increasing incidence of gun-related attacks

One in five Americans has lost a family member to gun violence, an alarming survey published on Tuesday claims.

The research came out one day after five people were killed by a gunman at a Louisville bank, at least the 15th mass shooting of the month, and 146th this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

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Missing woman found alive in vehicle submerged in Texas lake

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Woman had been reported missing since 5 April but on 7 April a local fisher spotted a black Jeep almost completely underwater

In what authorities are regarding as a miracle, a Texas woman was found alive in a vehicle that was discovered submerged in a lake two days after she was reported missing.

The woman had been reported missing since 5 April by the police department of Longview, Texas, according to a statement from the local Marion county sheriff’s office that was posted to Facebook.

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China’s drills near Taiwan a ‘war-like’ escalation from exercises last year

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Biggest show of force since August was more targeted and showed intent to annex island, say analysts

China’s recent military drills near Taiwan were a substantive and “war-like” escalation on those conducted last August despite not including any missile launches, some analysts have said.

The drills were launched in retaliation to Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, traveling to the US and meeting the US house speaker, Kevin McCarthy. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as a province despite that being rejected by its government and people, declared the meeting a provocation by Taiwan “separatists”, enabled by the US.

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Pentagon leaks: US seeks to mend ties after claims Washington spied on key allies

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Defence secretary speaks to South Korean counterpart after leak suggesting US was spying on Seoul’s internal discussions on arms sales

The US is attempting to mend fences with key allies after leaked Pentagon documents claimed Washington had been spying on friendly countries including South Korea and Israel.

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, spoke to his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday as officials in Seoul denied the possibility that the president’s office could have been the source of leaks over South Korean arms sales to the US.

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Fifth victim dies in Louisville bank shooting

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The attacker, who livestreamed the shooting, was killed by police but not before he injured eight others

A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace on Monday morning, killing five people – including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor – while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said.

Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside Old National Bank and killed the shooter in an exchange of gunfire, Louisville metro police department chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said. The city’s mayor, Craig Greenberg, called the attack “an evil act of targeted violence”.

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Derry crowd petrol-bombs police vehicle as Joe Biden heads to Northern Ireland

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Land Rover was monitoring a dissident republican parade commemorating the 1916 Rising

The British and Irish governments have condemned petrol bomb attacks on police in Derry on the eve of Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland.

A small crowd threw petrol bombs and other missiles at a police Land Rover during a parade by dissident republicans in the Creggan area of the city on Monday. The vehicle briefly caught fire and was withdrawn.

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US declares journalist Evan Gershkovich wrongfully detained by Moscow

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The Wall Street Journal reporter was imprisoned by Russian authorities for espionage

The US state department has officially designated Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter imprisoned in Russia, as being wrongfully detained, signalling that Washington views the espionage charges against him as bogus and that he is being held as a hostage.

“Journalism is not a crime. We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia and its ongoing war against the truth,” the state department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said in a statement announcing the designation. “The US government will provide all appropriate support to Mr Gershkovich and his family. We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr Gershkovich.”

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