Category Archives: US News

FBI’s opposition to release Leonard Peltier driven by vendetta, says ex-agent

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Exclusive: retired FBI agent Coleen Rowley calls for clemency for Indigenous activist who has been in prison for nearly 50 years

The FBI’s repeated opposition to the release of Leonard Peltier is driven by vindictiveness and misplaced loyalties, according to a former senior agent close to the case who is the first agency insider to call for clemency for the Indigenous rights activist who has been held in US maximum security prisons for almost five decades.

Coleen Rowley, a retired FBI special agent whose career included 14 years as legal counsel in the Minneapolis division where she worked with prosecutors and agents directly involved in the Peltier case, has written to Joe Biden making a case for Peltier’s release.

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Freshwater fish more contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ than in oceans

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Study also says eating one serving of fish with PFAS could be equivalent to drinking contaminated water every day for a month

Wild caught, freshwater fish in the United States are far more contaminated with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” than those commercially caught in oceans, and the highest levels are found in fish from the Great Lakes, a new analysis of federal data suggests.

The peer-reviewed study by public health advocate Environmental Working Group (EWG) also found eating one serving of US freshwater fish contaminated with median PFAS levels could be equivalent to drinking highly contaminated water every day for a month.

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People in abortion restrictive US states economically disempowered – report

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Wages, incarceration rates and unemployment benefits access worse when compared with states allowing the procedure

Wages, employment security, incarceration rates and access to unemployment benefits are all worse in US states where abortion is restricted or banned, compared with those where it is protected, a new report has found.

The report by the Economic Policy Institute also found that minimum wages are, on average, $3.75 an hour lower in abortion restrictive states compared with protective states ($8.17 compared with $11.92); and that restrictive states incarcerate people at 1.5 times the rate of protective states.

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George Santos reportedly to be seated on two House committees

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The New York fabulist has been assigned to the small business and the science, space and technology committees

George Santos – the New York Republican congressman under local, state, federal and international investigation over his largely made-up résumé, suspect campaign finances and potentially criminal aspects of his personal history – has been reportedly given two committee assignments, after the Republican speaker of the House pledged that he would “get seated on committees”.

Santos has reportedly been assigned to the small business committee and the science, space and technology committee, multiple news outlets reported.

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White House says Republicans have ‘zero credibility’ over Biden documents case – live

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House Republicans are seeking to embarrass president over retention of papers from time as vice-president

The Biden administration is calling on House Republicans to “come clean” about the deals Kevin McCarthy made to win election as House speaker, and accusing the party of embracing extreme policies.

“House Republicans have yet to come clean with the American people about the secret agreements Kevin McCarthy made with the most Maga members of their conference in order to end their leadership election debacle,” the White House said in a statement. “But as we learn more about what was hashed out behind closed doors, it has become clear that these hidden agreements could impact the lives of every American.”

An unprecedented tax hike on the middle class and a national abortion ban are just a glimpse of the secret, backroom deals Speaker McCarthy made with extreme MAGA members to end this month’s chaotic elections and claim the gavel. The few agreements we know about would fundamentally reshape our economy in a devastating way for working families and criminalize women for making their own health care decisions. They’re also planning to plunge the economy into chaos and take millions of American jobs and 401k plans hostage unless they can cut Medicare. What other hidden bargains did Speaker McCarthy make behind closed doors with the most extreme, ultra MAGA members of the House Republican conference? The American people have a right to know – now – which is why we are calling on him to make every single one of them public immediately.

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Twitter ‘verified’ check marks bought by Taliban appear to have been removed

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Afghanistan’s hardline Islamist rulers had never carried a verification tick mark before the launch of Twitter Blue

Twitter account verifications bought by the Taliban appear to have been removed, after many expressed outrage that the social media platform had given its blue check marks to Afghanistan’s hardline Islamist rulers.

Twitter previously only gave blue “verified” check marks to accounts that were considered “active, notable and authentic accounts of public interest”. But since Elon Musk acquired the platform last year, users can buy them from the Twitter Blue service for a fee – an option at least two officials of the Taliban government in Afghanistan had exercised.

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Shooting at Martin Luther King Day party leaves eight wounded in Florida

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One person critically hurt after firing broke out at family event in park in Fort Pierce: ‘People were just running in all directions’

A shooting which erupted on a packed Martin Luther King Jr Day block party in Florida that left eight people wounded late on Monday was the 30th mass shooting in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Authorities said one person was critically hurt after the shooting during the event in Fort Pierce. Seven others were also shot and wounded, and at least four more hurt in the panic that followed.

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‘A little off his rocker’: jurors grilled over views of Elon Musk for shareholder trial

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Despite Musk’s claim he can’t get a fair trial in Twitter’s hometown, judge sits San Francisco jury for Tesla suit

The shareholder case against Tesla CEO Elon Musk got off to a slow start on Tuesday, as potential jurors who variously described the controversial tech billionaire as “narcissistic”, “unpredictable”, “a little off his rocker”, “a genius” and “another arrogant rich guy” were questioned about their impartiality by the judge.

But, by the end of the day, nine jurors had been selected to sit on the jury for the San Francisco trial, which hinges on whether Musk cheated investors of “billions” by asserting in 2018 tweets that he had “secured” financing to take the electric automaker private.

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Population in China falls for first time in more than 60 years | First Thing

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Shift marks start of a long period of population decline as China wrestles with demographic time bomb. Plus, Adidas denies revolutionary plan over Cambodia working conditions

Good morning.

China has entered an “era of negative population growth”, after figures revealed a drop in the number of people for the first time since 1961.

Why are people resistant to having bigger families? Online, some Chinese people were unsurprised by the announcement, saying the social pressures driving the low birthrate remained. “Housing prices, welfare, education, healthcare – reasons why people can’t afford to have children,” said one commenter on Weibo. “Now who dares to have children? Housing prices are so expensive, no one wants to get married and even fall in love, let alone have children,” said another.

What does the Democratic party want to do? Democrats want South Carolina, a more racially diverse state than Iowa and New Hampshire, to have first say in whom the Democratic party should nominate for president. The proposal would mean New Hampshire would vote a week later, along with Nevada, while Georgia – another racially diverse state, and one that was crucial to Biden’s 2020 victory and the Democrats’ successful holding of the Senate in 2022 – would go next.

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Republicans have already filed dozens of bills to restrict voting in 2023

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Measures in Texas would raise criminal penalties and create voting-focused law enforcement unit

Republican lawmakers across the country have already filed dozens of bills that would restrict voting, including proposals in Texas that would increase criminal penalties on people who violate voting laws and enact a new law enforcement unit to prosecute election crimes.

The 2023 legislative session comes in the wake of an election that was described by many voting rights advocates as a triumph of democracy, despite the restrictive voting laws that were in place in 20 states for the first time last year.

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Town where Martin Luther King Jr made historic march reels from tornado

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Residents of Selma, Alabama, find resilience in civil rights leader’s legacy as US marks MLK Day

As the US marked Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday, the town of Selma, Alabama, that hosted his historic 1965 march was still reeling from a tornado that destroyed buildings, swept away roofs and tossed around mobile homes.

Thursday’s twister in Selma was categorized as EF-2, indicating “significant”, and about 40 miles away in Autauga county, where it claimed seven lives – including four from the same family – it was EF-3 or “severe”.

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Mother and baby among six people killed in California shooting

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Police searching for two suspects in what is believed to have been a targeted attack

Six people – including a 17-year-old mother and her 6-month-old baby – were killed in a shooting early on Monday at a home in central California, and authorities are searching for at least two suspects, sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies responded around 3.30am to reports of multiple shots fired at the residence in unincorporated Goshen, just east of Visalia, the Tulare county sheriff’s office said.

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Investigation after near collision of two planes at New York’s JFK airport

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Federal Aviation Administration looks into close call on Friday evening between American Airlines and Delta aircrafts

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call at JFK international airport on Friday evening in which two planes nearly collided on the runway.

The incident took place between a Delta Air Lines aircraft bound for the Dominican Republic and an American Airlines flight.

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Eric Adams says New York City doesn’t have ‘room’ to host more migrants

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Mayor says city’s strained care system can’t handle influx and blames government for lack of coordination during El Paso visit

In an unprecedented visit by a New York City mayor to the Mexico border, Eric Adams said his city doesn’t have enough “room” to host more migrants in its strained care system.

He made his remarks on Sunday at a news conference during his trip to El Paso, Texas, the first visit of its kind by a New York mayor, after an ongoing crisis sparked by the controversial decision of some Republican governors in the south to send migrants to mostly Democratic-administered municipalities around the US.

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John Kerry backs UAE appointment of oil chief to oversee UN climate talks

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US climate envoy says pick is a ‘terrific choice’ but activists equate pick to asking ‘arms dealers to lead peace talks’

US climate envoy John Kerry backs the United Arab Emirates’ decision to appoint the CEO of a state-run oil company to preside over the upcoming UN climate negotiations in Dubai, citing his work on renewable energy projects.

In an interview Sunday with the Associated Press, the former US secretary of state acknowledged that the Emirates and other countries relying on fossil fuels to fund their state coffers face finding “some balance” ahead.

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Baltimore man tried four times for same killing sees all charges dropped

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Keith Davis, 31, shot by police, was repeatedly charged over shooting at Pimlico race track in June 2015

A Baltimore man who stood trial four times for the same killing had all charges against him dropped on Friday.

In a statement, the Baltimore state attorney, Ivan J Bates, said his office had dismissed all charges against Keith Davis, 31, who was accused of the 2015 killing of Kevin Jones, a security guard at Pimlico Race Course, after police alleged Davis’s gun matched casings found at the scene of the shooting.

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Finding who can be held to account after a six-year-old shoots a teacher

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Where does the responsibility lie in the recent shooting in Newport News, Virginia, for a country so inured to gun violence?

The shooting of a Virginia teacher by her six-year-old student last week left the town of Newport News and the rest of the US shaken and shocked.

Even in a country long used to the sort of school shootings that are rare in much of the rest of the world, the astonishingly young age of the shooter prompted a bout of public agonizing in the US about its gun violence problem.

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Dr Dre successfully blocks Marjorie Taylor Greene from using his music

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The far-right Republican congresswoman was served with a cease-and-desist letter after she soundtracked a promotional video with his 1999 hit Still Dre

Dr Dre has successfully blocked Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from using his music in any context to do with her political career after she used his 1999 hit Still Dre to soundtrack a promotional video.

In the nearly two-minute video, posted on 9 January with the caption, “It’s time to begin … and they can’t stop what’s coming”, the far-right Georgia lawmaker walks out of her office in slow motion to the familiar first notes of the song, which features Snoop Dogg.

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Republican targeting Hunter Biden says: ‘I don’t target individuals’

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Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson grilled on why Jared Kushner should escape scrutiny for profiting from proximity to presidency

The Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson refused to say Republicans planning investigations of Hunter Biden for profiting from his connection to the presidency should also investigate Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser who secured a $1.2bn loan from Qatar while working in the White House.

“I’m concerned about getting to the truth,” Johnson insisted. “I don’t target individuals.”

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Alabama basketball player Darius Miles charged with murder after shooting

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  • Jamea Harris, 23, was shot dead near university’s campus
  • Crimson Tide say Miles is no longer part of team

Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been charged with capital murder after a fatal shooting near campus.

Captain Jack Kennedy of Tuscaloosa Police said that the shooting occurred early on Sunday morning near the university’s campus. He said Jamea Harris, 23, of the Birmingham area was shot and killed.

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