‘It was flight or die’: witnesses describe horror of Colorado Springs shooting

Patrons at Club Q flipped over tables for shelter after shots suddenly rang out across the venue

Deanne VanScyoc said she had dropped to the floor behind a pool table at Club Q and called 911 as the first shots rang out just before midnight, hitting people at the bar.

VanScyoc was facing the entrance from behind a glass wall when the shooter came in, she said. The shooter turned right and fired a single shot toward the bar, then three more in rapid succession, then a flurry of shots. As pop music pounded and a strobe light flashed, VanScyoc saw the shooter, in body armor, move in a crouch down a ramp, rifle at eye level, and head toward the dance floor.

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Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift chaos triggers US Senate antitrust hearing

Several politicians voice concerns about dominance of ticket sales company after botched release for singer’s tour

A US Senate antitrust panel will go ahead with a hearing on the lack of competition in the country’s ticketing industry after Ticketmaster’s problems last week managing the sale of Taylor Swift tickets.

Tickemaster’s parent company, Live Nation, has blamed presale problems for Swift’s Eras tour – the pop superstar’s first US tour in five years – on “unprecedented demand” and an effort to keep out bots run by ticket scalpers.

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Six men charged over international drug ring after Sydney dawn raids seize cash, cocaine and crypto

NSW police say several transnational organised criminal networks were collaborating on drug imports

Six Sydney men have been charged and millions of dollars in cash and drugs seized after a multi-agency police investigation into an international drug ring.

Another man was arrested in Los Angeles as part of a joint operation with US homeland security.

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UK aid to Afghanistan entrenched corruption and injustice, report finds

Government watchdog says £3.5bn aid in 20 years to 2020 failed to achieve aim of stabilising Afghan government

The UK’s £3.5bn aid to Afghanistan between 2000 and 2020 was implicated in corruption and human rights abuses and failed to achieve its primary objective of stabilising the country’s government, an assessment by the UK government’s aid watchdog has found.

Describing the two-decade aid project as the UK’s single most ambitious programme of state building, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) says decisions to spend aid on counterinsurgency operations were flawed, adding that efforts to reduce gender inequality are likely to be wiped out by the Taliban.

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Biden upgrades US-Palestinian relations by naming special representative

Hady Amr, held in high regard by Israeli and Palestinian diplomats, appointed to Washington-based role

Joe Biden has appointed a new special representative for Palestinian affairs, a significant upgrade in relations with Ramallah despite the fact the American diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, closed by Donald Trump in 2019, is yet to reopen.

The White House informed Congress on Tuesday that it had promoted Hady Amr, previously the deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, to the newly created, Washington-based role, Axios and the Times of Israel reported.

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Gene therapy at $3.5m a dose approved for US adults with hemophilia B

Hemgenix frees patients from repeated treatments but initial cost makes it most expensive medicine in the world

US drug regulators have approved a one-off gene-therapy treatment for adults with the genetic blood disorder hemophilia B that frees patients from repeated treatments but costs $3.5m a dose, making it the most expensive medicine in the world.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved CSL Behring’s hemophilia B gene therapy Hemgenix on Tuesday. It cuts the number of bleeding events expected over the course of a year by over half, a study found, and reduces 94% of patients from the need for regular infusions to control the condition.

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Colorado Springs shooting suspect to make first court appearance

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, scheduled to appear by video from jail over attack that left five dead and at least 17 wounded

The alleged gunman facing possible hate crime charges in the fatal shooting of five people at a Colorado Springs nightclub was scheduled to make a first court appearance on Wednesday from jail, after being released from hospital.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, who was beaten into submission by patrons at Club Q on Saturday night, was scheduled to appear by video. Motive was under investigation but authorities said Aldrich faced possible murder and hate crime charges.

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Names of six victims released in shooting at Virginia Walmart

Walmart employee says gunman, who police say killed himself, was manager who opened fire on workers gathered in break room

Six people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a Walmart store in southern Virginia late on Tuesday, in the latest mass shooting to strike the US, this time shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday. The gunman killed himself, police said.

A witness, Jessie Wilczewski, told a local TV station, WAVY, the gunman began shooting at a group of about 14 employees gathered in a meeting room at the start of their shift in the store, located in the city of Chesapeake.

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Alaska firefighters rescue baby moose trapped in home

The 500lb one-year-old moose fell through a basement window and became trapped, requiring six people to help get him out

Firefighters in Alaska got an unusual request for assistance last Sunday, from Alaska wildlife troopers.

“They were looking for some help getting a moose out of a basement,” said Capt Josh Thompson of Central Emergency Services on the Kenai Peninsula.

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X-ray discovers cat trapped inside checked bag at New York’s JFK airport

Security agent spotted cat inside bag last week and saved it from being transported on to aircraft luggage hold

A cat that sneaked into an air traveller’s luggage was trapped there until it was discovered by an X-ray machine at JFK airport in New York, possibly saving it from a grim fate in an aircraft luggage hold, travel authorities said.

NBC News reported that the cat’s brush with potential tragedy was detected on 16 November when a bag was checked from JFK to Atlanta for a connecting flight to Florida.

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Biden administration ‘dragged feet’ on Mohammed bin Salman immunity ruling

Legal experts raise questions about run-up to granting immunity in civil case involving murder of journalist

When the Biden administration filed a legal brief last week calling for the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to be granted sovereign immunity in a civil case involving the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it said it was strictly a legal determination that did not reflect its views on the “heinous” killing.

“In every case, we simply follow the law. And that’s what we did,” Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, later said.

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Founder of failed crypto exchange FTX apologises to ex-employees

Sam Bankman-Fried continues to say firm’s downfall can be solely explained by misplaced $8bn

The founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX has written to its former employees apologising for his role in its collapse and continuing to insist its downfall can be solely explained by a misplaced $8bn (£6.7bn).

In the letter, first published by the industry news site CoinDesk, Sam Bankman-Fried wrote: “I deeply regret my oversight failure. In retrospect, I wish that we had done many many things differently … I’m going to do what I can to make it up to you guys – and to the customers – even if that takes the rest of my life.”

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Simu Liu criticises Quentin Tarantino after director laments the ‘Marvelisation of Hollywood’

Shang-Chi actor says Tarantino and fellow Marvel critic Martin Scorsese ‘don’t get to point their nose at me or anyone’ in response to director’s comments

Director Quentin Tarantino has criticised Marvel films, saying the studio does not produce movie stars and Marvel films “are the only things that seem to be made”, leading to backlash from Marvel star Simu Liu.

Speaking on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, Tarantino said the decline in movie stars was attributable to the “Marvelisation of Hollywood”.

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Louisiana police release footage of officer fatally shooting Black motorist

High-profile lawyer who represented family of George Floyd calls Derrick J Kittling’s death ‘unwarranted’ as he takes on case

Footage of a deadly traffic stop in central Louisiana between a Black motorist and white officer, which spiraled into a 30-second struggle on the ground before the officer fired his weapon, has been released by state police.

Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights attorney representing the family of Derrick J Kittling – the 45-year-old motorist fatally shot in the head – called the death “unwarranted” and “completely preventable”. In addition, Crump demanded that the officer involved, Rapides parish sheriff’s office deputy, Rodney Anderson, be fired and accused him of profiling Kittling. The deputy has been placed on administrative leave while Louisiana state police investigate.

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Fauci urges Americans to get Covid shot, as study finds new booster is best yet

The latest booster shots provide better protection than original vaccines, CDC data shows ahead of health official’s retirement

In his last appearance at the White House podium, Anthony Fauci urged Americans to get the latest Covid shot as a new study showed that the latest boosters offer better protection against new variants than previous shots.

Fauci appeared ahead of his retirement next month as America’s top public health official. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, Fauci became a household name as the public face of the US government’s response to the pandemic.

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Herschel Walker accuser comes forward with fresh relationship claims

Woman who says she was pressured into abortion by Republican Senate hopeful presents unseen letters, audio and diary entries

The second woman to allege that she was pressured into having an abortion by Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee in Georgia’s hotly contested US Senate race, on Tuesday presented previously unseen letters, audio recordings and pages of her personal diary that she said were evidence of their relationship, which he has denied.

At a press conference in Los Angeles organized by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, the anonymous woman known only as Jane Doe came forward anew with a raft of fresh materials. She said she was doing so because when she first aired her allegations last month “and told the truth, he denied that he knew that I existed”.

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US supreme court allows Congress to view Trump’s tax returns

Order ends committee’s three-year battle to receive returns former president has long refused to release

The US supreme court will allow a congressional committee to receive copies of Donald Trump’s tax returns, ending a three-year battle by the Democratic-led body to see the documents the former president has famously refused to release since his first White House bid.

The court did not accompany its decision with any public comment, but it rejected Trump’s plea for an order that would have prevented the treasury department from giving six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses to the House ways and means committee.

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Don’t like Musk? Work for us! Tech firms woo ex-Twitter staff

Tech companies aim to pick up experienced engineering talent by appealing to dislike of Tesla chief executive’s methods

Put off by Elon Musk’s muscular management style? Move to us! That’s the pitch being used by talent-starved technology firms trying to lure thousands of former Twitter employees laid off by the social media company under its new owner.

Twitter has fired top executives and enforced steep job cuts with little warning following Musk’s tumultuous takeover of the social media platform. About half of the workforce – around 3,700 employees – has been laid off.

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Court battle begins over Trump’s special master review of papers | First Thing

Should the former president lose, the materials seized from Mar-a-Lago will be available for the criminal investigation. Plus, your daily update on the Qatar World Cup

Good morning.

The justice department will ask a court today to void the special master review examining documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and make the materials available to the criminal investigation surrounding the former president.

What did justice department say in its briefing? “Absent any likelihood of any success in the merits of the claim, there is no justification for an injunction,” the department wrote, as it sought the appeals court to reverse the entirety of the Trump-appointed US district court judge Aileen Cannon’s special master order.

What do we know about the victims? Among the victims were two bartenders, a trans woman, a mother to an 11-year-old and a young graduate.

The Colorado Springs shooter had allegedly threatened his mother with a bomb. Why could he still get a gun? There’s no public record that prosecutors sought any felony kidnapping and menacing charges against Aldrich, or that police or relatives tried to trigger Colorado’s red flag law that would have allowed authorities to seize the weapons. Questions are being asked about why.

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US justice department seeks to void Trump’s special master review of papers

The end of the process will make the materials seized from Mar-a-Lago available for the criminal investigation of the ex-president

The US justice department is scheduled to ask a court on Tuesday to void the special master review examining documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and make the materials available to the criminal investigation surrounding the former president.

The hearing is particularly consequential for Trump: should he lose, it could mark the end of the special master process on which he has relied to delay, and gain more insight into, the investigation surrounding his potential mishandling of national security information.

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