Category Archives: US News

DoJ seeking to hold Trump team in contempt of court over classified documents

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Trump office did not comply with subpoena issued in May demanding the return of all classified documents, a source says

The US justice department is seeking a top federal judge to hold Donald Trump’s political office in contempt of court for not fully complying with a grand jury subpoena issued in May demanding the return of all classified documents in its possession, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The department in recent weeks asked the chief US district court judge for the District of Columbia, Beryl Howell, to hold Trump’s office in contempt after prosecutors were unable to get the former president’s lawyers to designate a custodian of records to certify all records were returned.

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Harry Dunn’s mother calls killer’s failure to appear in court ‘despicable’

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Charlotte Charles pleased to have kept promise to son, but says US government still has questions to answer

The mother of the British teenager Harry Dunn has said her promise to win him justice has been fulfilled after his killer was sentenced, but said it was “despicable” that she had failed to appear in court.

Although Anne Sacoolas, a US citizen who was driving on the wrong side of the road when her car struck the young motorcyclist in 2019, avoided jail, she received an eight-month suspended sentence and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

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Twitter sued for disproportionately firing female workers after Musk buyout

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The proposed class-action lawsuit alleges that after the takeover, 57% of women were laid off compared with 47% of men

Twitter has been hit with another lawsuit in the wake of Elon Musk’s mass layoffs, with the latest legal action accusing the company of disproportionately targeting female employees for cuts.

The proposed class action, which was was filed late on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court, said that after Twitter was taken over by Musk, the world’s richest person, it laid off 57% of its female workers compared with 47% of men.

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Nick Carter sued for alleged sexual assault of 17-year-old girl in 2001

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A new lawsuit claims the Backstreet Boys member sexually assaulted a minor after a concert

Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter has been sued for sexual battery involving an incident with a minor in 2001.

According to the lawsuit, first reported by TMZ and later obtained by Rolling Stone, Shannon Ruth, who was 17 at the time, claims she was invited by Carter, then 21, on to the Backstreet Boys’ tour bus after a concert in Tacoma, Washington. Ruth also spoke at a press conference today.

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US agency moves to block landmark merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard

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Regulators voted 3-1 to stop the biggest acquisition in video game history, citing concerns over thwarting of competition

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has moved to block Microsoft’s takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard, citing concerns that the deal would thwart competition by denying rivals access to popular gaming content.

Microsoft, which owns the Xbox video game console system, said in January 2022 that it would buy Activision for $68.7bn, which would make it the biggest gaming industry deal in history. Activision is the maker of popular games including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

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Biden hails release of Brittney Griner from Russian prison: ‘She’s safe, she’s on her way home’ – as it happened

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Russia exchanged Brittney Griner for arms dealer Viktor Bout at Abu Dhabi airport, Politico reports, and the two walked past each other on the tarmac.

Biden said Griner would be back in the United States “in the next 24 hours”. According to Politico, Griner is heading to a military facility in San Antonio, Texas, to be evaluated.

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Brittney Griner freed from Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout

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Basketball star released as US agrees to free convicted arms dealer in dramatic prisoner swap

Russia has freed the jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange for the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death” who had been held in a US prison for 12 years.

Joe Biden, who had made Griner’s release a top priority after she spent almost 10 months in jail on drug charges, said in an address from the White House he found her “in good spirits” when speaking after the swap in Abu Dhabi.

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Elon Musk accused of turning Twitter offices into bedrooms

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San Francisco investigating Twitter after complaint says it converted rooms in its HQ into sleeping quarters

Twitter is under investigation by city officials in San Francisco following a complaint that the company allegedly converted rooms in its headquarters to sleeping quarters, an inquiry that has drawn scorn from Elon Musk.

As of Monday, the office has “modest bedrooms featuring unmade mattresses, drab curtains and giant conference-room telepresence monitors” with four to eight beds a floor, employees told Forbes. The changes appear to be part of Musk’s plan for “hardcore Twitter” in which he’s demanded workers dedicate “long hours at high intensity” after he fired nearly half the company’s workforce.

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Qatar’s gas output increase could cause catastrophic global heating, report says

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If Qatar exploits all its reserves it will add 50bn metric tons of CO2 to atmosphere, more than entire annual emissions of whole world

Qatar’s longest lasting legacy following the World Cup won’t be football or even its human rights record – it will be the climate crisis, according to a new report warning that its huge expansion of gas extraction could push the planet into catastrophic global heating.

Should Qatar exploit all of its oil and gas reserves it will eventually add an enormous 50bn metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere once burned, which is more than the entire annual emissions of the whole world, the new research, shared with the Guardian, has found.

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Olive Garden manager fired for time-off message: ‘If your dog died, bring him in’

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Kansas manager’s missive – which claimed workers were calling out ‘at a staggering rate’ – caused an uproar online

A manager of an Olive Garden restaurant in Kansas was out of a job after warning subordinates to look for other work if they requested time off.

In an unusually harsh message that went viral online, the manager – whose name was not publicly released – complained that staffers at her eatery in Overland Park were staying off work “at a staggering rate”.

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New York Times poised for first mass staff walkout in 40 years

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Daylong action comes as union and management clash over wages and remote work

The New York Times is bracing for a 24-hour walkout on Thursday by hundreds of journalists and other employees, in what would be the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years.

Newsroom employees and other members of the NewsGuild of New York say they are fed up with bargaining that has dragged on since their last contract expired in March 2021. The union announced last week that more than 1,100 employees would stage a 24-hour work stoppage starting at 12.01am on Thursday unless the two sides reached a contract deal.

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New York mayor contests $300 fine from own administration over rat infestation

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Eric Adams issued summons by health department in May after inspector spotted ‘fresh rat droppings’ at his Brooklyn townhouse

New York City mayor Eric Adams is such an enemy of rats that he once called a press conference to demonstrate a contraption for drowning them in poison. Now Adams finds himself contesting a $300 fine issued by his own administration over a rat infestation at a building he owns in Brooklyn.

Adams was issued a summons by the city health department on 10 May after a health inspector spotted “fresh rat droppings” at his townhouse on Lafayette Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.

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Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ bill author indicted for money laundering

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Federal grand jury also charged Republican lawmaker Joe Harding with ‘fraudulently obtaining’ $150,000 in Covid relief funds

A federal grand jury has indicted Florida state representative Joe Harding, the Republican lawmaker who authored the “don’t say gay” bill, for Covid business relief fraud and money laundering, the justice department announced on Wednesday.

Between December 2020 and March 2021, Harding, 35, committed wire fraud when he took part in a “scheme to defraud” the Small Business Administration and obtained Covid-related relief funds for small businesses under false pretenses, according to a federal indictment.

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‘Trying to text and call’: Australian girl, 10, was at sleepover when family died in US light plane crash

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Queenslanders Christian and Misty Kath and their eldest daughter Lily killed when rented Piper Cherokee crashed off coast of Florida on the weekend

An Australian girl was at a friend’s house in Florida when a light plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on the weekend, killing her parents and older sister.

Queensland man Christian Kath, 42, was piloting the rented Piper Cherokee when it crashed on Saturday night with his wife, Misty, 43, and their eldest daughter, Lily, 12, on board.

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Herschel Walker’s son revels in father’s Georgia Senate runoff defeat

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Christian Walker sent a series of celebratory tweets that recalled the candidate’s alleged history of mistreatment of his family

Among the many detractors celebrating Herschel Walker’s defeat in the Georgia Senate runoff was one closer to home: son Christian, who expressed his delight on Twitter that the state had rejected his controversial father.

“Don’t beat women, hold guns to peoples [sic] heads, fund abortions then pretend your [sic] pro-life, stalk cheerleaders, leave your multiple minor children alone to chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family,” the younger Walker said in the first of a flurry of tweets posted on Tuesday night as the Democrat Raphael Warnock was projected to be the winner.

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‘Amazing occurrence’: hurricane erosion reveals shipwreck on Florida beach

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Storms uncover what appears to be wooden ship dating from 1800s poking from sand at Dayton Beach Shores

Severe beach erosion from two late-season hurricanes has helped uncover what appears to be a wooden ship dating from the 1800s which had been buried under the sand on Florida’s east coast for up to two centuries, impervious to cars that drove daily on the beach or sand castles built by generations of tourists.

Beachgoers and lifeguards discovered the wooden structure, between 80ft and 100ft (24-31 meters), poking out of the sand over Thanksgiving weekend in front of homes which collapsed into rubble on Daytona Beach Shores last month from Hurricane Nicole.

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Democrats celebrate as Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff | First Thing

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Republican Herschel Walker concedes as Warnock celebrates bolstering the Democrat party’s Senate majority

Good morning.

The Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, has fended off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker and won the Georgia Senate runoff, securing his first full term and delivering a 51st seat to bolster his party’s majority in the chamber.

How did Walker respond? Walker conceded, acknowledging that his campaign had fallen short and expressing gratitude to his team. The Republican explicitly thanked election officials who ensured the runoff was managed effectively, quelling concerns he might refuse to accept the result.

Is Walker’s loss a bad omen for Trumpism? In a normal political universe, David Smith writes, Walker’s defeat would be the final nail in Trump’s political coffin. The former American football star was the ultimate Trumpian candidate. Trump, however, arguably remains the favourite for the Republican nomination in 2024. The next election could spell the rebirth or the death of Trumpism.

How has Trump responded? In a statement yesterday, the Trump Organization denounced the verdict, which could carry a fine of up to $1.6m, a relatively negligible sum for such a large company though it could affect future business dealings. A lawyer for the Trump Organization vowed to appeal.

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Environmental leaders urge Democrats to drop deregulation bill

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Environmentalists call foul as pro-fossil-fuel senator Joe Manchin backs addition to defense act to fast-track energy projects

Joe Biden and the Democratic party’s climate credentials will be severely undermined if controversial legislation to fast-track energy projects is latched on to a must-pass defense bill, environmental leaders have warned.

Progressive lawmakers and hundreds of climate, public health and youth groups are urging the Democratic leadership to stop the latest attempt by Joe Manchin, the West Virginia fossil-fuel-friendly senator, to force through legislation that would weaken environmental protections and expedite permits and construction of pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure while restricting public input.

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Health experts in conundrum over best way to avoid winter ‘tripledemic’

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RSV, Covid-19 and flu cases are exploding, but many health officials aren’t forcing masks or discouraging in-person gatherings

Dr Jason Newland, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at St Louis children’s hospital, is just waiting for his cold to start. “I can list off about 10 people right now that have had some sort of illness in the past five days,” Newland said.

That’s because the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza seasons started months earlier than usual, amid the continuing spread of Covid-19 and the common cold. The flu hospitalization rate is the highest it’s been in a decade, according to public health officials. Scientists have described the collision of viruses as a “tripledemic”.

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Family of three Australians killed in US single-engine plane crash

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Former Gympie resident Christian Kath, his wife Misty and their 12-year-old daughter Lily died when plane crashed in Gulf of Mexico

The Australian government is providing consular assistance to the family of three Australians killed in a single-engine plane crash in the US.

Dfat officials have been dispatched to Florida following the crash in the Gulf of Mexico which killed three members of the same family.

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