Category Archives: US News

Rubio says Netanyahu has full support of US over plans to destroy Hamas

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US secretary of state, who is visiting Jerusalem, warns of ‘Israeli counter reaction’ if allies recognise Palestine

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has put the Trump administration’s full support behind Benjamin Netanyahu in a visit to Jerusalem, saying Washington’s priorities were the liberation of Israeli hostages and the destruction of Hamas.

In public remarks standing alongside Netanyahu, Rubio did not mention the possibility of a ceasefire, and did not repeat his earlier criticism of Israel for carrying out an airstrike last week aimed at Hamas leaders in Doha, the capital of another close US ally, Qatar.

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US’s Rubio says efforts to recognise Palestinian state make it harder to end war – as it happened

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This live blog is closed.

That brings the press conference to a close, as Netanyahu takes a moment to acknowledge both his and Rubio’s staff who are sat in the front row.

The main takeaways from the event, which lasted just over half an hour, are that the US views international efforts to recognise the Palestinian state as a hindrance to peace efforts and that Netanyahu refuses to rule out future strikes on Hamas leaders – wherever they are.

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Arthur Sze named as new US poet laureate

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Library of Congress, which has been under fire from Trump administration, appoints author and translator, 74

At a time when its leadership is in question and its mission challenged, the Library of Congress has named a new US poet laureate: the much-honored author and translator Arthur Sze.

The library announced on Monday that the 74-year-old Sze had been appointed to a one-year term, starting this fall. The author of 12 poetry collections and recipient last year of a lifetime achievement award from the library, he succeeds Ada Limón, who had served for three years. Previous laureates also include Joy Harjo, Louise Glück and Billy Collins.

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US right capitalizes on fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina

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Far right points to lax criminal justice system and racist narratives, not mental health system failures as experts say

The random and unprovoked killing of a young woman in North Carolina several weeks ago has become a viral video, a political football, and a powerful rightwing talking point – even as the horror and anger her death has provoked obscures what experts say is a vital story about the failures of the American mental health system.

The alleged perpetrator, Decarlos Brown Jr, 34, has a long history of problems with the law and mental health issues. He had been arrested 14 times and served a five-year stint for armed robbery. Brown had also come to believe that there was something alien and malevolent inside him – a “man-made material”, he told people, possibly a computer chip implanted by the government that was fighting him for control of his body.

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Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s widow launches philanthropic organizations in his honor

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Tenisha Warner reveals identity as she starts two initiatives to support children on behalf of late actor and singer

The widow of actor and singer Malcolm-Jamal Warner has announced the launch of two philanthropic organizations in his honor, paying tribute to her late husband in social media posts that identified her for the first time.

On Friday, the day before the eighth anniversary of their wedding, Tenisha Warner published a photo on Instagram of her and her Grammy-winning husband holding hands and laughing together on the day they got married. Some accompanying text explained that the doctor of psychology and her daughter had started the Warner Family Foundation as a young artists’ scholarship program as well as River & Ember, which is dedicated to helping deepen bonds between parents and children.

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Two men arrested in Utah after incendiary device found under news vehicle

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Men could face terrorism-related and weapons charges after officials say device ‘had been lit but failed to function’

Authorities in Utah say two men have been arrested on suspicion of placing an incendiary device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City. The bomb didn’t go off.

Police and fire department bomb squads responded on Friday when a suspicious device was found under the vehicle parked near an occupied building.

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Utah campus open carry permit under fresh scrutiny after Kirk shooting

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HB 128, passed in August, allows people with the proper permit to openly carry firearms on college campuses

As authorities at the federal and state levels parse the details of the fatal shooting of far-right activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah, a recently passed state bill that allows people with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms openly on college campuses has drawn fresh scrutiny.

Utah has allowed for permitless open and concealed carry of weapons since 2021. But before the passage of HB 128, firearms had to be concealed when carried on college campuses. The law allowed people with the proper permit to carry them openly.

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Teen Colorado school shooting suspect reportedly fixated on Columbine attack

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Desmond Holly also expressed neo-Nazi views online before a shooting critically injuring two students, ADL says

A teenager suspected in a shooting attack at a suburban Denver high school that left two students in critical condition appeared fascinated with previous mass shootings including Columbine and expressed neo-Nazi views online, according to experts.

Since December, Desmond Holly, 16, had been active on an online forum where users watch videos of killings and violence, mixed in with content on white supremacism and antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism said in a report.

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Rubio in Israel for talks to limit diplomatic damage over Qatar strikes

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US secretary of state says Trump ‘not happy’ about Israeli attack that targeted Hamas officials in Doha for Gaza talks

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has held talks in Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at limiting the diplomatic damage to both countries by Israel’s attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders in Qatar, its continued demolition of Gaza, and the accelerated expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli prime minister took Rubio on a tour of the Western Wall, where both men placed written prayers between the stones, before taking his American visitor underground to view archeological excavations.

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Questions linger about alleged shooter’s motivation for killing Charlie Kirk

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Suspect’s background and politics are being pored over in aftermath of killing of far-right influencer

Though the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was revealed by authorities on Friday, questions surrounding his identity and motivations have exacerbated intense US political debates in the aftermath of the shooting.

Authorities revealed Kirk’s suspected killer to be Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man who grew up in Washington, Utah, along the state’s south-western border.

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Leaked plans show Pentagon eyeing Louisiana to deploy national guard

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Documents show intent to deploy 1,000 troops to conduct law enforcement operations in urban centers

Donald Trump’s administration has drafted a proposal to deploy 1,000 Louisiana national guard troops to conduct law enforcement operations in the state’s urban centers, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing military planning documents it had obtained.

Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many US cities. His crackdown on Democratic-led municipalities has fueled legal concerns and spurred protests, including a recent demonstration by several thousand people in Washington DC.

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Rubio calls Russian drones over Poland ‘unacceptable’ but declines to say it was intentional

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Nato announces plans to beef up defense as Poland rejects Trump’s suggestion drones were sent by mistake

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Saturday said the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week was unacceptable but that it remained unclear whether Russia had deliberately sent the drones into Polish territory. Nato announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe’s eastern flank on Friday, after Poland shot down the drones that had violated its airspace, the first known shots fired by a member of the western alliance during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We think it’s an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development,” Rubio told reporters before departing on a trip to Israel and Britain.

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Several people fired after clampdown on speech over Charlie Kirk shooting

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Teachers, firefighters and military personnel among those who lost jobs after posting their opinion on social media

Reactions on social media to the murder of far-right activist Charlie Kirk have cost multiple people their jobs as authorities in numerous states clamp down on critical commentary.

Among those to have been fired, suspended or censured in recent days for their opinions include teachers, firefighters, journalists, politicians, a Secret Service employee, a junior strategist at Nasdaq and a worker for a prominent NFL team.

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President-elect of Oxford Union to face disciplinary proceedings for Charlie Kirk remarks

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Union makes announcement alongside condemnation of racial abuse George Abaraonye suffered after ‘inappropriate remarks’ celebrating shooting

• Charlie Kirk shooting – US politics live

The president-elect of the Oxford Union will face disciplinary proceedings for making “inappropriate remarks” celebrating the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the union has announced on social media.

George Abaraonye, a student at the University of Oxford who became president-elect of the debating society after a vote in June, posted several comments in a WhatsApp group appearing to celebrate what happened, according to the Telegraph.

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Widow of Charlie Kirk says her ‘cries will echo around the world like a battle cry’

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In statement Friday, Erika Kirk says ‘evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done’

Erika Kirk, the widow of rightwing activist and provocateur Charlie Kirk, said in a statement Friday evening that her late husband’s message and mission will be “stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever” and that her “cries will echo around the world like a battle cry”.

“I loved knowing one of his mottos was ‘never surrender’,” she said of her late husband. “We’ll never surrender.”

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Six great reads: rebels in Nazi Germany, how creativity works and Europe’s biggest pornography conference

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Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days

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Trump declines to call for unity after Charlie Kirk killing in stunning move

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President tells Fox News ‘the radicals on the left are the problem’ and refuses to seek common way forward

Donald Trump has declined to call for the US to come together as a way of fixing the country’s divisions in the wake of the assassination of his close associate, the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, preferring to cast “vicious and horrible” radicals on the left of US politics as the sole problem.

In an interview on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, the US president was asked what he intended to do to heal the wounds of Kirk’s shooting in Utah. “How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?” he was asked by the show’s co-host Ainsley Earhardt, who commented that there were radicals operating on the left and right of US politics.

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Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar shatters Gulf’s faith in US protection

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The attack in Doha upended a decades-old assumption – and left Arab leaders questioning how much they can still rely on Washington

On Thursday, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, led a funeral at the state mosque. Flanked by officials in white thobes, he prayed over six caskets – one draped in a Qatari flag and five bearing Palestinian flags.

Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday, which also killed a Qatari officer, marked an unprecedented moment for the Gulf kingdom. The attack undercut the assumption that has underpinned Qatari foreign policy for three decades and reverberated across the Arab region: be useful to the United States, and it will protect you.

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Digested week: Marsupial brings cheer in dark and dysfunctional days | Emma Brockes

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It was left to a – albeit extinct – tiny relative of the kangaroo to offer some relief from the blizzard of major events

Where to start in a week so fraught with major events you could hardly draw breath for the news flashes? It started with Trump’s alleged contribution to Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book,” shared by the Democrats on social media on Monday and leading to the discovery of a name not widely recognised in the US but of intense interest in the UK – Peter Mandelson. The British ambassador to the US had proffered an undiplomatically warm birthday message to the late child sex offender financier, starting a press scramble that ended, on Thursday, with Keir Starmer firing him.

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