Category Archives: US News

Biden prepares for State of the Union as US collects Chinese balloon debris – as it happened

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Former US vice president Mike Pence was expected to visit South Carolina today, as the signals grow louder that he’ll make his own run for the White House in 2024 as a rival to the former boss he’s essentially fallen out with, Donald Trump. But that visit has been postponed.

Fresh reports say that Pence has decided to delay his trip to the crucial primary state because his oldest daughter, Charlotte Pence Bond, has gone into labor in California. The ex-veep and his wife, Karen Pence, headed for California instead and will reschedule the trip to South Carolina.

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New York woman found breathing at funeral home after being declared dead

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The 82-year-old was pronounced dead at a Long Island nursing home, only to be discovered alive and then taken to a hospital

An 82-year-old woman was pronounced dead at a New York nursing home only to be found breathing three hours later at the funeral home where she had been taken, authorities said.

It was the second time in about a month something of the sort has happened in the US, according to officials.

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Ohio officials to release toxic chemicals from derailed train to avert explosion

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Officials urge anyone within 1-mile radius of site in north-eastern Ohio to leave amid ‘potential of a catastrophic tanker failure’

Authorities in Ohio say they plan to release toxic chemicals from five cars of a derailed train in Ohio to reduce the threat of an explosion.

Governor Mike DeWine says a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride will take place on Monday at 3.30pm local time.

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Georgia officials condemned for labeling ‘Cop City’ protests domestic terrorism

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Lawyers for climate activist killed by police say charges send warning: ‘If you stand in our way, we will take you out of our way’

Lawyers for the family of a climate activist who was shot dead by police in Georgia last month have condemned officials’ attempts to brand his fellow protesters of Atlanta’s planned “Cop City” training facility as domestic terrorists.

Attorneys representing relatives of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán were speaking at a news conference Monday as a large number of officers, including heavily armed tactical teams, descended again on the site in Atlanta’s South River forest where the building of the $90m so-called Cop City is planned.

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Crisis at Adani Group intensifies as Indian activists stage protests

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Opposition groups push Modi to investigate allegations by US short-seller as firm suffers market rout

The crisis engulfing the Adani Group has intensified as hundreds of members of India’s opposition parties took to the streets to press for an investigation into allegations by a US short-seller against India’s second-biggest business group which triggered its market rout.

The Adani Group said on Monday that its major investors, known in India as “promoters”, had pledged to prepay $1.1bn (£916m) in share-backed loans due for repayment by September 2024. The repayments include shares in Adani’s ports business, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission.

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Anti-abortion group to pay Planned Parenthood nearly $1m over protest at clinic

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Spokane county judge ordered Church at Planned Parenthood to pay $960,000 for interfering with patient care

An anti-abortion group has been ordered to pay almost $1m in fines to Planned Parenthood, over demonstrations outside a clinic in Spokane, Washington state.

According to its website, the group, Church at Planned Parenthood, was formed to stage “worship service at the gates of Hell”.

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Beyoncé breaks record for artist with most Grammys in historic ceremony

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The singer took home four awards in a night that also saw major wins for Kendrick Lamar, Adele and Harry Styles

Beyoncé has become the most awarded artist in Grammys history during a historic evening in Los Angeles.

The singer, who was a late arrival at the ceremony after being stuck in traffic, won for best R&B song, best dance/electronic recording, best dance/electronic album and best traditional R&B performance. She has now won 32 Grammy awards.

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US military searches territorial waters for Chinese spy balloon wreckage

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Recovery of the wreckage could give the United States insight into China’s spying capabilities, officials say

The US military said it is searching for remnants of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down, in a dramatic spy saga that has further strained American-Chinese relations.

The US navy is working to recover the balloon and its payload and the coast guard is providing security for the operation, general Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American aerospace defence command and US northern command said on Sunday.

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Grammy awards 2023: list of winners

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The 65th annual Grammy awards saw major wins for Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, Adele and Beyoncé

ABBA - Voyage
Adele - 30
Bad Bunny - Un Verano Sin Ti
Beyoncé - Renaissance
Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days
Coldplay - Music of the Spheres
Harry Styles - Harry’s House – WINNER
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
Lizzo - Special
Mary J Blige - Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)

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Trump documents: Congress offered briefing on records kept at Mar-a-Lago

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Closed-door session could provide insight into the sensitivity of the documents Trump retained and possibility of indictments

US officials have offered to provide a closed-door briefing to congressional leaders about their review of about 300 classified-marked documents retrieved from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last year, sources familiar with the matter said.

The precise nature of the briefing remains unclear. The offer from the justice department and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence (ODNI) was described as unofficial on Sunday and no date had yet been set, though the briefing could come as soon as this week.

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Ted Cruz wants two-term limit for senators – and a third term for himself

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Texas senator says he ‘never said I’m going to unilaterally comply’ with his own proposed restriction

Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to limit US senators to two terms in office, thereby removing from Washington “permanently entrenched politicians … totally unaccountable to the American people”.

On Sunday, however, he said he saw no problem with running for a third term himself.

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Bruce Springsteen fanzine Backstreets to shut down over ticket prices

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Publisher says staff is ‘dispirited’ and that readers and fans feel let down as ticket prices went as high as $4,000-$5,000 for shows

A leading Bruce Springsteen fanzine has announced that it will close after 43 years, citing among other reasons unchecked ticket price hikes the editors say many fans can no longer afford.

In a letter to readers, Christopher Phillips, publisher and editor-in-chief of Backstreets magazine, said staff had been “dispirited, downhearted, and, yes, disillusioned” since tickets for 2023 shows by Springsteen, a singer known for his loyalty to his blue collar roots in New Jersey, went on sale last summer.

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White House rejects Republican fire over wait to down Chinese spy balloon

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Pete Buttigieg says president ‘considered safety of American people’ but Marco Rubio criticizes eight-day wait

The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, rejected Republican criticism of Joe Biden over the eight-day wait to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon which flew over military sites.

“The president gave instructions to have it shot down in a way that was safe,” Buttigieg told CNN’s State of the Union, of the operation off the Carolina coast on Saturday.

Associated Press contributed to this report

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Buttigieg backs Biden 2024 run but poll says most Americans don’t

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Poll shows 60% of Democrats want someone else as 2024 nominee and nearly 50% of Republicans want someone other than Trump

Nearly 60% of Democrats and nearly 50% of Republicans want someone other than Joe Biden or Donald Trump to be their party’s nominee for president in 2024, a new poll showed on Sunday.

A key member of Biden’s cabinet, however, insisted Biden’s record in office was more important than any “generational argument” for change.

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Haiti garment workers share $1m payout after factory closure a year ago

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More than 1,100 workers who were left destitute to be compensated by owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein

More than 1,100 garment workers in Haiti are sharing $1m (£830,000) in compensation from the owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein after being left destitute by the closure of a factory.

PVH, which was one of several brand owners sourcing from the Vald’or factory in the Caribbean country, agreed to pay the sum to cover missed severance pay, pension contributions directly to workers and the government pension fund after involvement by the Worker Rights Consortium lobby group.

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North-east arctic blast sets record -108F wind chill on New Hampshire summit

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Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills dropped as low as -45 to -50F across the rest of the region

Arctic air in the US north-east on Saturday brought dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills including a record-setting -108F (-78C) on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Authorities in Massachusetts took the unusual step of keeping the South Station transit hub open so homeless people had a place to sleep. High winds brought down a tree branch on a car in western Massachusetts, killing an infant.

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Man wanted for leaving dead fish at The Goonies house rescued by coast guard

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Police still looking for Jericho Labonte of British Columbia after he was released from hospital after ‘odd 48 hours’

A man saved by a US coast guard rescue swimmer at the mouth of the Columbia river as a massive wave rolled the yacht he was piloting on Friday was wanted for a bizarre incident in which police said he left a dead fish at the Astoria, Oregon, home featured in the classic 1985 film, The Goonies.

Officers had been looking for the man since Wednesday, when an acquaintance alerted them to a video he posted on social media of himself leaving the fish at the house and then dancing around the property, said the Astoria police chief, Stacy Kelly.

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Democrats’ Ilhan Omar defence weakened by party’s own attacks over Israel

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Party’s criticism of Omar’s Israel position has greased the path for Republicans to oust her from the foreign affairs committee

The resolution that set in motion the removal of the only African immigrant, Muslim and former resident of a refugee camp on the congressional committee overseeing US foreign policy paid scant attention to Ilhan Omar’s views on anything but a single issue: Israel.

“Omar has attempted to undermine the relationship between the United States and Israel,” said the author of the resolution, Republican congressman Max Miller. “She has disqualified herself from serving on the foreign affairs committee.”

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‘Can you spell lynching?’: lawyer’s shocking note in Texas execution case

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Appeals court submission exposes racial toxicity in case of Black man John Balentine, sentenced to death for 1999 triple murder

In April 1999, John Balentine, a Black man on trial for murder in Amarillo, Texas, sat before an all-white jury as they deliberated whether he should live or die.

Should he be given a life sentence, in which case he would likely end his days behind prison bars? Or should they send him to death row to await execution?

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Pennsylvania boy, 9, becomes one of the youngest ever high school graduates

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David Balogun, who loves science and computer programming, receives diploma after taking remote classes

A nine-year-old boy from Pennsylvania who loves science and computer programming has become one of the youngest ever high school graduates, and he has already started accumulating some credits toward his college degree.

David Balogun recently received a diploma from Reach cyber charter school – based in his state’s capital of Harrisburg – after taking classes remotely from his family home in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem, the local television station WGAL reported Saturday.

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