Category Archives: US News

Louisiana school turned ‘college fair’ into transphobic church event, students say

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More than 2,100 high school seniors were taken to event that left many of the students traumatized, some attendees say

More than 2,000 public school students in Louisiana were told earlier this week that they were going to a college fair. They were then shuttled to what parents later deemed a sexist and transphobic church event which left many of the students traumatized.

On Tuesday, more than 2,100 high school seniors from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System – which serves residents of Louisiana’s capital – were taken to the local Living Faith Christian Center under the promise that they would receive college and career advice, as well as free food.

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Trump claimed ‘I was not watching television’ on January 6, book says

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Ex-president denied knowing his supporters were rioting and called them ‘fucking crazy’, Maggie Haberman writes in new book

Donald Trump denied knowing at the time the January 6 attack on the US Capitol started that a mob of his supporters – whom he privately called “fucking crazy” – were rioting, the author of a forthcoming book on his chaotic presidency writes in what may stand as one of the most surprising, non-believable postscripts of his tenure in the Oval Office.

“I didn’t usually have the television on. I’d have it on if there was something. I then later turned it on and I saw what was happening,” Trump told New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for her forthcoming account Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

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Paul Haggis can argue Church of Scientology behind rape allegation, judge rules

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Director claims 2013 encounter with film publicist was consensual and that accusation came in retaliation for leaving the church

Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis will be allowed to argue that the Church of Scientology is behind a rape allegation against him, a judge in New York has ruled.

Haggis, who was separately accused over the summer of sexually assaulting a woman at an Italian film festival, will be permitted to argue that church members were involved in a previous rape allegation brought by film publicist Haleigh Breest dating back to 2013. That case, stemming from a civil lawsuit pursued by Breest, is set to go to trial next month.

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Jake Sullivan: US will act ‘decisively’ if Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine

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US national security adviser says: ‘Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia’

America and its allies will act “decisively” if Russia uses a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, reaffirming the Joe Biden White House’s previous response to mounting concerns that Vladimir Putin’s threats are in increased danger of being realized.

“We have communicated directly, privately and at very high levels to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia, that the US and our allies will respond decisively, and we have been clear and specific about what that will entail,” Sullivan told CBS’s Face The Nation.

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January 6 panel to take up key unanswered questions in final hearing

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Wednesday’s session is committee’s last chance to show potential culpability of Donald Trump before midterm elections

The House January 6 select committee is expected to hold its final public hearing next Wednesday, with the congressional investigation into the US Capitol attack nearing its conclusion as staff counsel prepare to produce an interim report of its findings before the 2022 midterm elections.

The specific topic of the final hearing that the panel’s chairman, Congressman Bennie Thompson, will convene starting at 1pm is unclear.

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Nasa delays Artemis 1 moon rocket launch again as tropical storm Ian looms

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Third delay in the past month for test flight as technical issues and weather hamper US effort to return to the moon after five decades

Nasa is skipping Tuesday’s launch attempt of its new moon rocket over concerns about a tropical storm headed to Florida that could become a major hurricane.

It’s the third delay in the past month for the lunar-orbiting test flight featuring mannequins but no astronauts, a follow-up to Nasa’s Apollo moon-landing program of a half-century ago.

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Florida prepares for hurricane as tropical storm Ian grows over Caribbean

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Cayman Islands and Jamaica brace while Florida governor declares emergency, with storm headed to state by midweek

Florida residents on Saturday were bracing for a heavy tropical storm system that weather experts warn could become a major hurricane.

Ian – upgraded to a hurricane from a tropical storm Sunday – was poised to intensify steadily after forming on Friday over the southern Caribbean. The storm could cross over into parts of Cuba before heading to Florida by the middle of next week, according to forecasts.

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Video shows train hitting Colorado police car with person handcuffed inside

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Yareni Rios-Gonzales hospitalized after officers fail to pull her from car they had parked on tracks

A dramatic video released by Colorado authorities shows the moment a freight train hit a police patrol cruiser parked on the train tracks with a person handcuffed in the backseat.

The video, which was released on Friday by the Platteville and Fort Lupton police departments, shows how Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, 20, was hurt after officers from both agencies detained her in a patrol car on 16 September as they searched her pickup truck for weapons.

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Nearly all abortions become illegal in Arizona

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Several clinics halt procedure as dual measures, including 19th-century ban with no exception for rape or incest, take effect

Almost all abortions became illegal in Arizona on Saturday, after a new law banning abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy took effect and a judge lifted an almost 50-year-old injunction that blocked a near-total ban on abortions from being enforced in the state.

Judge Kellie Johnson of Pima county’s superior court released a ruling on Friday that allowed the enforcement of the decades-old ban, a day before a new law that would ban most procedures after 15 weeks was scheduled to take effect, reported the Washington Post.

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South Dakota investigates governor’s use of state airplane

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County prosecutor will decide whether Republican Kristi Noem broke an untested law to rein in questionable use of state plane

South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem, was returning from an official appearance in Rapid City in 2019 when she faced a decision: overnight in the capital of Pierre, where another trip would start the next day, or head home and see her son attend his high school prom?

The Republican governor chose the latter, a decision that eventually cost taxpayers about $3,700 when the state airplane dropped her off near her home and then returned the next day to pick her up.

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Iranian authorities must ‘deal decisively’ with protests, says president

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At least 35 dead in eight nights of demonstrations after death of Mahsa Amini in custody, state media report

Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said authorities must “deal decisively with those who oppose the country’s security and tranquility”, Iranian state media have reported.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Tehran and other major cities for eight straight nights since the death of Mahsa Amini.

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Is net finally closing on US priest who allegedly abused ‘countless’ children?

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FBI agents have questioned Lawrence Hecker, 91, who worked as a Catholic priest in New Orleans until 2002 despite the archdiocese being aware of molestation accusation since 1988

In arguably the clearest sign yet that he is under active criminal investigation, a retired Catholic priest from New Orleans who has been publicly accused of molesting “countless” children but never charged has acknowledged that the FBI recently questioned him.

Lawrence Hecker, 91, declined to elaborate on exactly when FBI agents met with him or what they asked him as they reportedly lead an investigation into whether clerics serving a Louisiana region that is home to nearly half a million Catholics took children across state lines to abuse them. But, in a brief conversation with the Guardian, Hecker admitted that FBI agents had spoken with him.

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Elton John awarded medal by Joe Biden for his work to end Aids

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Singer moved to tears as US president awards him National Humanities Medal after White House performance

Elton John was moved to tears after being awarded the National Humanities Medal for his work to end Aids by the US president following a special performance at the White House.

The singer performed on the White House lawn for the president and first lady and about 2,000 “everyday history makers” on Friday night.

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‘How are we not included?’: rural Puerto Ricans struggle to get help after hurricane

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Fema makes individual assistance available to only 55 of the 78 municipalities on the island, leaving some feeling ignored

Six days after Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico, Alexiz and Roberto Núñez still don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

The couple, whose home in Arecibo flooded during the storm, is relying on a neighbor’s cooking and some canned goods delivered by the government to get by.

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Trump’s attempts to delay Mar-a-Lago inquiry largely fail as legal woes mount

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Justice department gains access to about 100 documents with classified markings that the FBI seized from the resort

Attempts by Donald Trump to delay the criminal investigation into his unlawful retention of government secrets have been largely thwarted after the Department of Justice regained access to about 100 documents with classified markings that the FBI seized from the former US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The US appeals court for the 11th circuit this week set aside key parts of an order by a federal judge that barred the department from using the documents in its investigation, and additionally ruled that Trump’s lawyers need not review the documents over potential privilege concerns.

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Louise Fletcher: Oscar-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest star dies

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Fletcher, who won Academy Award for her role of Nurse Ratched in 1975 film, dies, aged 88

Louise Fletcher, who won an Academy Award for her role in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, has died, aged 88.

Fletcher died in her sleep surrounded by family at her home in Montdurausse, France, her agent, David Shaul, told the Associated Press.

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Biden’s claim that Covid pandemic is over sparks debate over future

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With more than 400 people dying daily, many experts say his remarks were premature – but it is unclear what impact they may have

Joe Biden’s recent declaration that the Covid-19 pandemic was over was premature, according to several infectious disease experts, but there was not a consensus among them about whether the remarks will cause a significant change in Americans’ attitude towards the virus and lead to worse public health outcomes.

That’s partly because Biden was simply catching up to most of the US population, who see how much lower the case and death counts are than earlier in the pandemic, and as such, have stopped wearing masks in public and now gather regularly indoors, the experts said.

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China says US sending ‘dangerous signals’ on Taiwan

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Comments from Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi come after meeting with US secretary of state Antony Blinken on sidelines of UN general assembly

China has accused the United States of sending “very wrong, dangerous signals” on Taiwan after the US secretary of state told his Chinese counterpart on Friday that the maintenance of peace and stability over Taiwan was vitally important.

Taiwan was the focus of the 90-minute, “direct and honest” talks between the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York, a US official told reporters.

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Arizona can enforce near-total abortion ban, judge rules

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Ruling brings back law blocked for nearly 50 years, and means clinics offering the procedure would face criminal charges

Arizona can enforce a near-total ban on abortions that has been blocked for nearly 50 years, a judge ruled Friday, meaning that clinics statewide will have to stop providing the procedures to avoid criminal charges against doctors and other medical workers.

The judge lifted a decades-old injunction that blocked enforcement of the law on the books since before Arizona became a state. The only exemption to the ban is if the woman’s life is in jeopardy.

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Post-tropical cyclone Fiona hits eastern Canada with hurricane-force winds

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Storm surges and heavy rainfall expected before weather event gradually weakens this weekend, say meteorologists

A powerful storm has hit eastern Canada with hurricane-force winds nearly a week after devastating parts of the Caribbean.

The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said the centre of Fiona, which transformed from a hurricane into a post-tropical cyclone late on Friday was crossing eastern Nova Scotia, bringing high winds and heavy rains.

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