Category Archives: US News

Florida: alleged burglars arrested after calling 911 for help moving belongings

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Two arrested in Kissimmee after calling for assistance moving items from burglarized house and a ride to the airport

Sheriffs in Florida arrested two purportedly bumbling burglars after one allegedly called 911, intending to ask police for help moving belongings from a house they broke into, authorities said.

The chain of events started to unfold around 1am on Saturday in Kissimmee, about 20 miles from Orlando. A Dollar General discount store was burglarized and “multiple items stolen” the Polk county sheriff’s office said, documenting the alleged incident in an arrest affidavit and a Facebook post.

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Teacher wins free speech case after wearing Trump-themed hat to school

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Eric Dodge wore Make America Great Again baseball cap twice but judge found no ‘tangible disruption’ to Washington school

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a former teacher in Vancouver, Washington, concluding that his wearing a hat supporting Donald Trump to school was protected speech under the first amendment.

Documents from the ninth circuit court of appeals show that Eric Dodge, a science teacher, brought the Make America Great Again baseball cap to an Evergreen Public Schools building twice before the 2019-2020 school year.

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George Santos scandal: Democratic predecessor calls him a ‘con man’

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Tom Suozzi, Santos’s forerunner for New York’s third district, says the Republican winner should be ‘removed by Congress’

The Democrat who vacated the US House seat won by the controversial Republican George Santos said on Tuesday Congress was letting in “a con man”.

Tom Suozzi won New York’s third district, which covers parts of Long Island and Queens, in 2016, but stepped down in 2022 in order to run for governor. Santos lost to Suozzi in 2020 but beat Robert Zimmerman for the vacant seat.

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Ex-Colorado funeral home owner gets 20 year sentence for selling body parts

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Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch defrauded distraught families and dismembered bodies for illegal sale

A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts without permission.

Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law.

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Bruce’s Beach heirs to sell land back to Los Angeles county for $20m

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California had returned land seized from Willa and Charles Bruce in 1920 to their heirs last year as part of its reparations policy

A southern California beachfront property that was taken from a Black couple through eminent domain a century ago and returned to their heirs last year will be sold back to Los Angeles county for nearly $20m, officials said on Tuesday.

The sale comes as the state of California continues to consider sweeping financial reparations for the government’s treatment of Black Americans, including government confiscation of property, housing discrimination, over-policing and health disparities.

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House adjourns after Kevin McCarthy falls short in three rounds of voting for speaker – as it happened

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Leader of slim Republican majority has been negotiating to secure backing of hardliners but voting could go to multiple rounds

A crescendo of bipartisan outrage will accompany the swearing in due today of George Santos, one of the Republican party’s most controversial new Congress members, who has admitted large parts of his biography are a fantasy.

The New York politician, caught in lies over his family background, education and work history, is facing calls to step down from several senior figures within his own party before he even sets foot on the floor of the chamber.

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McCarthy faces long battle for House speaker after he falls short on third vote

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House adjourned until noon tomorrow as McCarthy becomes the first nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win the first vote

In a historic delay, the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, was on Tuesday facing a protracted battle to secure the speaker’s gavel after failing to win the first three votes on the opening day of the new Congress.

A fourth vote – and perhaps more, into the night – was avoided when the House adjourned, by voice vote, until noon on Wednesday.

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George Santos: Brazil reactivates fraud case against fabulist congressman-elect

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Republican is accused of using stolen checkbook and fake name at shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008

As the fabulist New York Republican representative-elect George Santos prepares to be sworn in on Tuesday, Brazilian prosecutors say they are reopening a criminal fraud case against him.

Santos, who faces federal and state investigations involving possible criminal activity related to his two congressional campaigns, is accused of using a stolen checkbook and fake name at a clothing shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008, the New York Times reported on Monday citing court documents.

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Transgender Missouri inmate executed for fatal stabbing

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Two members of Congress campaigned for Amber McLaughlin’s sentence to be commuted over alleged shortcomings in trial

A Missouri inmate has been put to death for a 2003 killing, becoming what is believed to be the first transgender woman executed in the US.

Amber McLaughlin was put to death on Tuesday night, hours after the Republican governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, declined a clemency request. McLaughlin was convicted in 2006 of killing a former girlfriend in suburban St Louis in 2003.

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RMT chief threatens rail strikes could continue beyond May – business live

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Mick Lynch says strikes could carry on into spring unless a reasonable offer is made to the RMT union; transport secretary denies blocking a deal

Huw Howells, head of manufacturing and industrials at Lloyds Bank corporate & institutional banking, said:

Manufacturers start 2023 on somewhat uncertain ground as December shows a fifth month of contraction.

There are silver linings in the supply chain, but unknowns remain for 2023, making forecasting difficult as manufacturers balance demand and supply.

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Sam Bankman-Fried expected to plead not guilty in FTX case

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Crypto exchange founder accused of using deposits to support hedge fund, buy real estate and make political contributions

Fallen crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea of not guilty on Tuesday to criminal charges that he cheated investors and looted billions of dollars at his now bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Bankman-Fried is accused of illegally using FTX customer deposits to support his Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate and make millions of dollars in political contributions, in what prosecutors have called a fraud of epic proportions.

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John Kerry: rich countries must respond to developing world anger over climate

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US climate envoy says there needs to be work on details of ‘loss and damage’ fund in 2023

People in developing countries are feeling increasingly angry and “victimised” by the climate crisis, the US climate envoy John Kerry has warned, and rich countries must respond urgently.

“I’ve been chronicling the increased frustration and anger of island states and vulnerable countries and small African nations and others around the world that feel victimised by the fact that they are a minuscule component of emissions,” he said. “And yet [they are] paying a very high price. Seventeen of the 20 most affected countries in the world, by the climate crisis, are in Africa, and yet 48 sub-Saharan countries total 0.55% of all emissions.”

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Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin in critical condition after cardiac arrest | First Thing

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Hamlin was administered CPR on the field, surrounded by teammates, some of them in tears, after he was hurt during a tackle. Plus, Is America suffering a ‘social recession’?

Good morning.

The Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin is in a critical condition in hospital after he had a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field last night, with the NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals suspended after the incident.

How is he doing now? The Bills posted on their official Twitter account that he is in critical condition: “His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”

Are former supporters deserting him? Some are, yes. Among those defecting from Trump’s large-donor battalion are his top 2016 contributors, Robert and Rebekah Mercer, CNBC reported. The billionaires have instead donated to his likely primary rival, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis. The hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who threw about $67m in the midterms, has also backed DeSantis.

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Thousands of nurses in New York City to strike in pursuit of fair contract

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Strike date at seven hospitals set for 9 January after 98.8% vote in favor, with wages, staff ratios and health insurance key issues

At least 12,000 nurses at seven hospitals in New York City are threatening to strike after their union contract expired at the end of last year. A strike date is set for 9 January.

The nurses are pushing for the hospitals to implement and enforce safe staffing ratios, improve wages in line with inflation, and maintain health insurance coverage as opposed to proposed cuts by the hospitals.

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Jeremy Renner out of surgery after accident, but remains in critical condition

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The Avengers star suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries in an accident while plowing snow and remains in intensive care

Jeremy Renner has undergone surgery after suffering blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries sustained in an accident on Sunday, and remains in a critical but stable condition, the actor’s publicist has confirmed.

The 51-year-old actor was seriously injured while driving a snow plow near his home in Reno, Nevada, on New Year’s Day, and was airlifted to hospital.

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House of lies: outrage as Republicans prepare to swear in fantasist Santos

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New York politician who admitted making up large much of his life story is facing calls for him to quit, even from within his own party

A crescendo of bipartisan outrage will accompany the swearing in on Tuesday of George Santos, one of the Republican party’s most controversial new Congress members who has admitted large parts of his biography are a fantasy.

The New York politician, caught in lies over his family background, education and work history, is facing calls to step down from several senior figures within his own party before he even sets foot on the floor of the chamber.

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Suspect in University of Idaho killings to appear in court in Pennsylvania

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Bryan Kohberger is not expected to resist extradition to Idaho to face murder charges over stabbings of four students

Bryan Kohberger, the criminal psychology graduate accused of murder over the deaths of four University of Idaho students, will appear in a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday ahead of his extradition to Idaho.

Kohberger’s public defender, Jason LaBar, has said his client will not contest his extradition because he is “eager to be exonerated”. Labar has also said that his client “should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise – not tried in the court of public opinion”.

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Flood warnings in northern California after powerful New Year’s storm

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San Francisco experiences second wettest day on record as one person found dead in submerged vehicle near Highway 99

Flood warnings and watches were in effect on Monday in parts of northern California in the aftermath of a powerful “atmospheric river” storm that drenched the state over New Year’s weekend.

A new weather system was predicted by afternoon or evening, but the National Weather Service said the rain would be modest until the arrival late on Tuesday of another strong atmospheric river, a long plume of Pacific Ocean moisture.

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Kevin McCarthy’s speaker bid in balance as effort to placate hardliners flops

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Republican ‘Never Kevins’ say series of concessions to rightwingers are ‘insufficient’ to secure support

The final hurdle to Republican Kevin McCarthy’s years-long quest to secure the speaker’s gavel grew even more formidable on Monday as a sizable group of House colleagues from his own party said they were not yet ready to support him.

The nine Republican rebels made the announcement after the California congressman made a series of concessions on Sunday to try to shore up the support of conservative hardliners ahead of Republicans assuming control of the US lower chamber on Tuesday.

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‘We’re in a space race’: Nasa sounds alarm at Chinese designs on moon

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Administrator Bill Nelson says Beijing could seek ‘own’ resource-rich areas and next two years could be key to US-China contest

The US is locked in a space race with China and the country needs to “watch out” that its rival does not gain a foothold and try to dominate lunar resources, Nasa’s top official has warned.

The assessment came from the Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and Florida senator, who went on to warn that China could eventually claim to “own” the moon’s resource-rich areas.

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