Category Archives: US News

Paul Pelosi attack suspect charged with attempted kidnapping and assault

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Suspect who faces state and federal charges told police he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and ‘break her kneecaps’

The man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, told police he wanted to hold the congresswoman hostage and “break her kneecaps”, authorities in California said on Monday afternoon.

David DePape, 42, confronted a sleeping Paul Pelosi in the couple’s San Francisco townhouse bedroom shortly before 2.30am last Friday morning, according to a federal affidavit filed in court on Monday.

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Affirmative action appears in jeopardy after US supreme court hearing

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Race-conscious admission programs, twice upheld by highest court, now under scrutiny by skeptical conservative supermajority

The survival of affirmative action in higher education appeared to be in serious trouble on Monday at a conservative-dominated US supreme court after hours of debate over difficult questions of race.

The court is weighing challenges to admissions programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University that use race among many factors in seeking a diverse student body.

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AOC vows to champion LGBTQ+ rights after hecklers storm New York event

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Hecklers were attacking a policy providing affordable housing for LGBTQ+ people

The progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she will stand up for LGBTQ+ rights after an attack by hecklers caused chaos during a recent speaking event in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York.

The Democrat from New York met the heckles at the back of the Boys and Girls Club with dancing, the video of which has gone viral on social media.

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After a UPS worker’s suicide, employees disclose ‘tragic’ conditions at largest facility

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Revealed: UPS workers tell the Guardian that intense quota pressures, injuries, an unclean and unsafe environment and understaffing take a heavy toll

The article includes details surrounding a suicide.

The gargantuan UPS Worldport is the largest automated packaging sorting facility in the world. Covering 5.2m sq ft in Louisville, Kentucky, with 70 aircraft docks and 155 miles of conveyor belts, the site is larger than the Mall of America, employs about 11,000 workers and is capable of handling 115 packages a second.

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Pence blames Trump for events leading to January 6 in new memoir

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Former vice-president says meeting at which advisers led by Giuliani urged Trump to not accept election defeat was ‘a new low’

A post-election meeting at which advisers led by Rudy Giuliani attacked campaign lawyers and urged Donald Trump not to accept his election defeat was “a new low” for a president “well acquainted with rough-and-tumble debates”, Mike Pence writes in a forthcoming memoir.

Of the meeting in November 2020, the former vice-president writes: “In the end, that day the president made the fateful decision to put Giuliani and [attorney] Sidney Powell in charge of the legal strategy … The seeds were being sown for a tragic day in January.”

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Georgia governor debate: Kemp silent on question over harsher abortion restrictions

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Republican Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams spar in final gubernatorial debate before midterms

In the final televised debate with Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams before their November election, Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, refused to say whether he would support harsher abortion restrictions if re-elected to a second term and if fellow Republicans dominating the state legislature sent them to his desk.

At WSB-TV’s Channel 2 Action debate Sunday, Kemp, a Republican, said it was not his “desire to go move the needle any further” on abortion restrictions in Georgia, adding that he would look into additional restrictions passed by state lawmakers “when the time comes.” Kemp at a previous debate had said he “would not” support new abortion limits.

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Like Trump, Elon Musk reveals a vapid mind super-charged by wealth and ego | Siva Vaidhyanathan

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Musk, despite his wealth, good fortune and global influence, is not a serious person – but he is toying with dangerous ideas

It took less than 48 hours for Elon Musk to reveal just how dangerous his new toy can be to this world. Replying to a tweet from former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the man worth more than $210bn with more than 112 million Twitter followers spread a dangerous conspiracy theory intended to distract people from an attempted political assassination just one week before a major US election.

Clinton had warned that “the Republican party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories”, in response not just to the attack on home and spouse of Nancy Pelosi but a slew of attempted kidnappings and threats against elected officials who have stood up to the Trump agenda and the attempted overthrow of the US government in January 2021.

Siva Vaidhyanathan is a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and the author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy

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US court drops Libor rate-rigging charges against ex-UBS trader

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Judge dismisses case against British former trader Tom Hayes, who was jailed over interest rate scandal

A New York court has dismissed a criminal indictment against Tom Hayes, the British former trader at UBS and Citigroup who served five and a half years in a UK prison for rigging the Libor lending benchmark.

Prosecutors in the US filed a motion to dismiss the case against Hayes and another former UBS trader, Roger Darin.

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Elon Musk considers charging Twitter users $20 a month for verified accounts

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World’s richest person plans revamp of social media platform, asking users if he should bring back Vine

Elon Musk is considering charging Twitter users $20 (£17.30) a month or $240 a year for a blue tick on their account, as the world’s richest person prepares an overhaul of the social media platform.

The Tesla chief executive is planning changes to Twitter’s Blue subscription service, according to the tech newsletter Platformer, including raising the $4.99 a month fee to $19.99. Users verified by the platform – who carry a blue tick flagging them as an authentic source – would have 90 days to sign up to Blue or lose their check mark.

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New York to pay $36m for wrongly convicting two men of Malcolm X killing

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Payments to follow exoneration of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam who both spent decades in prison

The city of New York is settling lawsuits filed on behalf of two men who were exonerated last year for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, agreeing to pay $26m for the wrongful convictions that led to both spending decades behind bars.

The state of New York will pay an additional $10m. David Shanies, an attorney representing the men, confirmed the settlements on Sunday.

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Musk posts baseless conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi attack on Twitter

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Post comes days after Musk takes over social media platform amid concern that hate speech will run rampant under his leadership

Elon Musk was criticized on Sunday after posting a baseless conspiracy theory about the assault of Paul Pelosi to Twitter – the social media giant he took over several days ago with a promise to impose less restrictions on its content.

Paul Pelosi, husband of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer at their California home on Friday. The attacker, identified by authorities as David DePape, allegedly said “Where is Nancy?” during the attack; president Joe Biden said that she appeared to be the intended target.

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‘Somebody’s going to die’: Democrats warn of political violence after Paul Pelosi attack

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Dire warnings after hammer assault on speaker’s husband and amid concern that security does not adequately reflect threats

Democratic politicians have ramped up their warnings about the threat of political violence in America after a man bludgeoned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband with a hammer in their California home on Friday.

The dire warnings come amid longstanding concern that security services provided do not adequately reflect ongoing threats, especially as midterm elections loom. The Associated Press reported on Sunday that Paul Pelosi’s assailant had been carrying zip ties when he broke in.

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Eight-year-old boy becomes youngest person to ascend Yosemite’s El Capitan

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Sam Adventure Baker went up the cliff with his father, but some climbers say method known as ‘jugging’ is not true climbing

An eight-year-old boy has become the youngest person to ascend the terrifying sheer rock wall of El Capitan in America’s Yosemite national park, his father said in a Facebook post.

Sam Adventure Baker has been going up the huge cliff with his father since Tuesday. The duo are part of a four-person team, where one person climbs ahead and sets the ropes for others to follow. Nights are spent sleeping on the rock face.

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Nancy Pelosi: family ‘heartbroken and traumatized’ by brutal attack on her husband

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Speaker’s husband underwent surgery after hammer assault that comes amid rising warnings of political violence in the US

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said her family is “heartbroken and traumatized” after a brutal and bloody hammer assault on her husband that has shocked the US as it stands on the brink of tense and crucial midterm elections.

An intruder smashed his way through a rear door into the Pelosi’s house in San Francisco on Friday. The man confronted Paul Pelosi and shouted, “Where is Nancy.”

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At least five dead as a boat heading toward US sinks off Cuba

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Vessel travelling north collides with Cuban coast guard ship near Bahía Honda, reports say

A boat off northern Cuba travelling toward the United States sank Saturday after a collision with a Cuban coastguard ship and at least five people died, Cuban state media reported on Saturday.

The craft reportedly flipped over after the crash near Bahía Honda, about two hours from the capital, Havana. Among the five known dead were a minor and three women, while 23 people were rescued, the Cubadebate report said.

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Biden says it appears attack on Paul Pelosi intended for House Speaker

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Speaker’s husband underwent surgery for skull fracture as political figures unite in condemnation of violence

A man accused of clubbing the husband of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, over the head with a hammer and threatening his life while demanding “Where is Nancy?” now faces charges of attempted murder and other felonies a day after the violent break-in at the couple’s San Francisco home.

Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands, though doctors expect a full recovery. The 82-year-old House speaker herself was in Washington with her protective detail at the time of the assault, but she flew back to San Francisco on Friday afternoon and went to the hospital.

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Skimpy latte: victory for bikini baristas as federal court rejects city’s dress code

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Ordinance in Everett, Washington, requiring coffee servers to cover up is unconstitutional, judge rules

A Washington city’s dress code saying so-called bikini baristas must cover their bodies at work has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court.

The decision in a partial summary judgment this week comes after a lengthy legal battle between bikini baristas and the city of Everett, on the outskirts of Seattle, over the rights of workers to wear what they want, the Everett Herald reported.

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New York still vulnerable 10 years after Hurricane Sandy, protesters warn

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Storm in 2012 had devastating impact on US’s biggest city but insufficient government action risks a repeat, demonstrators say

In marking the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy smashing into New York City, campaigners are warning that insufficient action by governments to tackle the climate crisis risks a repeat of such damaging and increasingly fierce storms.

Sandy made landfall with a huge impact on the New Jersey shore on 29 October 2012, before taking an unusual and destructive path into New York causing death, flooding and extended mass power cuts.

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From Ed Balls to BTS: the greatest hits in Twitter’s history

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To mark the site’s takeover by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, we present a survey of its most media-friendly moments

Twitter has great influence for a social media platform. It has a comparatively modest 230 million users, given that the likes of Instagram, Facebook and TikTok have user bases that run into the billions. But Twitter is beloved of politicians, celebrities, commentators and journalists and can have a great impact on the political and news cycle as a result. Here are some of the best-known and notorious tweets in the company’s 16-year history.

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Dahmer series creator says relatives of victims did not reply to contact efforts

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Ryan Murphy says controversial show’s team tried to speak to about 20 friends and family of serial killer’s victims

The creator of Netflix’s recent controversial series on the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has said his team tried to speak with about 20 of the victims’ friends and family before the show’s release but no one called back.

Series creator Ryan Murphy’s remarks counter claims by some victims’ relatives that no one from the production notified them of the show or consulted them.

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