Search and rescue effort under way after vessel sank in Stock Island, in the Florida Keys, hours before hurricane made landfall
Eighteen people are missing after a boat carrying Cuban migrants sank off Florida due to Hurricane Ian, further underlining the human cost of the storm.
US border patrol said on Wednesday that it responded to a migrant landing in Stock Island, in the lower Florida Keys, Reuters said.
Continue reading...David and Ina Steiner were sent live spiders, cockroaches and funeral wreaths among other things by executives to harass them
A former eBay executive was sentenced on Thursday to almost five years in prison for leading a scheme to terrorize the creators of an online newsletter that included sending live spiders, cockroaches, a funeral wreath and other disturbing deliveries to their home.
David Steiner, who along with his wife was the target of the harassment campaign, told the court that eBay’s former senior director of safety and security James Baugh and other eBay employees made their lives “a living hell”. He expressed fear that other companies would use it as a blueprint to go after journalists in the future.
Continue reading...Deripaska, 54, accused of several crimes including plotting to bring pregnant girlfriend to US so child would be American citizen
Oleg Deripaska, one of Russia’s most powerful oligarchs, who previously had deep links to British establishment figures, has been indicted by the US Department of Justice for criminal sanctions violations.
The indictment detailed a number of alleged crimes by the man who was long considered Vladimir Putin’s favourite industrialist, including an elaborate and failed attempt by Deripaska and his associates to shuttle his pregnant girlfriend to the US so that she could give birth there and secure American citizenship for their second child.
Continue reading...Pyongyang fired ballistic missiles into the sea just hours before US vice-president arrived in Seoul
The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has condemned North Korea’s “provocative nuclear rhetoric” during a trip to South Korea that included a visit to the heavily armed border dividing the peninsula.
Harris arrived in Seoul on Thursday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, in a move that underlines Washington’s struggle to rein in the regime’s weapons programme.
Continue reading...Charlotte and Lee counties hardest hit after storm makes landfall along the south-western coast with winds close to 150mph
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has laid out the predicted path of Hurricane Ian as it is expected to hit land this afternoon.
Hurricane preparations have been underway at the Big Cat Rescue, the animal sanctuary in Tampa featured on Netflix’s Tiger King TV series.
Continue reading...Antony Blinken opens landmark meeting a day after leaked documents showed discord among some Pacific leaders over US proposals
Joe Biden’s administration has welcomed Pacific Island leaders for a landmark summit in Washington with promises of greater aid and diplomatic presence, as it attempts to counter China’s rising influence in a region historically linked to the US.
In a first-of-a-kind summit in Washington, leaders from across the remote but strategic islands will meet Biden and the rest of the top US leadership on issues from maritime security to pandemic recovery to climate change, which threatens to devastate many of the low-lying islands.
Continue reading...Mayor Libby Schaaf calls for gun restrictions after shooting at Rudsdale Newcome high school for recently immigrated students
California authorities are searching for at least two people in connection with a shooting on a school campus in Oakland that left six people injured.
Wednesday’s shooting occurred at Rudsdale Newcomer high school, which serves students who are at risk of not graduating and have recently immigrated to the US after fleeing their home countries “because of violence and instability”. The school is one of four adjacent schools that serve middle and high school students on Fontaine Street just outside East Oakland.
This story was amended on 28 September 2022 to clarify that the shooting happened at a grade school, not a high school
Continue reading...Lawyer, who says he no longer poses a risk, files request to reverse California governor Newsom’s decision to deny Sirhan parole
Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy in 1968, is asking a judge to free him from prison by reversing a decision by the California governor to deny him parole.
Sirhan shot Kennedy in 1968 at the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles, moments after the US senator from New York claimed victory in California’s pivotal Democratic presidential primary. He wounded five others during the shooting.
Continue reading...The amount is meant to cover the treatment of herpes and psychotherapy for the abuse inflicted by the singer
A federal judge signaled on Wednesday that she plans to order disgraced R&B superstar R Kelly to pay more than $300,000 to one of his victims in a decades-long scheme to use his fame to sexually abuse young fans.
A restitution order by US district judge Ann Donnelly that was still being finalized is meant to cover the cost of treatment for herpes and psychotherapy. The victim, referred to only by a pseudonym, has accused the jailed Kelly of giving her the sexually transmitted disease during one of their encounters.
Continue reading...‘Major, major’ storm, estimated to be 140 miles wide, sweeps inland after causing huge flooding on coast, with millions of residents in its path
Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US mainland, has battered south-west Florida with high winds, rain and storm surges as it weakened and moved inland.
More than 2m homes and businesses were left without power as the storm swept ashore in south-west Florida on Wednesday afternoon, bringing “catastrophic” 150mph (240km/h) winds and a deadly storm surge of up to 18ft. Hours later, the storm – estimated to be about 140 miles (225km) wide – was downgraded from a category 4 to a category 1 storm as it moved slowly north-east, causing major flooding.
Continue reading...Biden releases national hunger and nutrition strategy, which includes a slate of goals to help end food insecurity
Biden is going into the main pillars of the national hunger and nutrition strategy released on Tuesday, which includes a slew of goals to help end food insecurity, give people more information and options to eat more healthily, and help folks take up regular physical activity.
Unfortunately, the goals are more a call to action, as Congress has ended Covid-era policies like the universal free school meals program and the expanded child tax credits which had massively reduced food insecurity and child poverty in the US.
Continue reading...Nelson, 49, fell down narrow slope on ski back to camp after scaling Nepali peak of Manaslu with partner
The body of the renowned US big-mountain skier Hilaree Nelson was found on Wednesday morning after she fell down a narrow 5,000ft slope during a trek in the Himalayas two days earlier.
Nelson and her partner, Jim Morrison, had scaled the 26,781ft peak of Manaslu on Monday morning. They reached the summit at 10.42am “in tough conditions”, Morrison wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. The pair transitioned from climbing to skiing down to regroup with their sherpa team.
Continue reading...Pennsylvania governor hopeful Doug Mastriano made comments in 2019 while discussing abortion bill he proposed as state senator
Asked in 2019 if he was saying women should be charged with murder for violating an abortion ban he proposed, Doug Mastriano, now the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, said: “Yes, I am.”
Mastriano was talking to WITF, a radio station, about a bill he sponsored as a state senator.
Continue reading...Electricity grid collapses in Cuba after hurricane passes through, as 2.5 million people in Florida ordered to evacuate
Cuba’s electricity grid has collapsed, leaving the entire country without power in the wake of Hurricane Ian, as residents in Florida braced for the arrival of what is expected to be a catastrophic Category 4 storm.
The western end of Cuba was hit by violent winds and flooding on Tuesday, affecting infrastructure, state-run media reported, while some of the country’s most important tobacco farms were devastated.
Continue reading...Storm bearing down on Florida nixes session that had been expected to feature footage of Trump ally Roger Stone
The House January 6 select committee announced that it would postpone what was expected to be its final investigative hearing scheduled for Wednesday over concerns about a hurricane and as it considers how best to present a number of unresolved questions surrounding the US Capitol attack.
“In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s proceedings,” the panel’s chairman Bennie Thompson and the vice-chair Liz Cheney said in a joint statement. “We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path.”
Continue reading...Legislation would clarify and expand parts of 1887 Electoral Count Act and aim to avoid repeat of January 6 insurrection
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Tuesday he would “proudly support” legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th-century law and avoid any repeat of the January 6 insurrection.
The legislation would clarify and expand parts of the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which, along with the constitution, governs how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential winners.
Continue reading...Mirage Secret Garden and Habitat temporarily shut after third dolphin fatality in five months
A dolphin habitat at a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip has been temporarily closed after the third mammal death at the attraction in five months.
Officials at the Mirage Secret Garden and Habitat said an 11-year-old bottlenose dolphin named K2 died on Saturday.
Continue reading...Roughly 10% of the force had their guns and arrest powers stripped after an internal audit of psychological exams
A northern California sheriff’s department stripped 47 deputies – 10% of the force – of their guns and arrest powers because they failed psychological exams, it was reported Monday.
It was “horrible″ to have to relieve the deputies of their duties, said Lt Ray Kelly, spokesperson for the Alameda county sheriff’s office, to KTVU-TV.
Continue reading...Panel cites threat of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, and says the ‘investigation goes forward’
As the January 6 committee enters what is likely to be the home stretch of its investigation, a new poll has found it hasn’t meaningfully shifted beliefs about what happened that day.
Monmouth University finds that around four in 10 Americans hold Donald Trump responsible for the insurrection at the Capitol, slightly less than in late June, while three in 10 believe the election was stolen from him, a figure that’s moved little since November 2020.
Continue reading...Both parties opposed the measure on energy permits, which critics said would gut environmental protections
The US Senate has voted to advance a funding bill to avert a federal government shutdown, after a tense standoff over a controversial energy-permitting provision proposed by the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin ended with its withdrawal.
A procedural vote on Tuesday to move forward with the funding bill succeeded easily, 72-23, after Democrats announced that the West Virginia senator’s proposal, which faced opposition from both parties, would be stripped from the final legislation. It was clear that, with Manchin’s plan included, Democrats were falling far short of the 60 votes needed to proceed, as most Republicans objected to it.
Continue reading...