January 6 panel says Bannon conviction is a ‘victory for the rule of law’ – as it happened

The former Trump adviser was charged with two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to appear before the House committee

If voters were to elect Donald Trump to another term in the 2024 presidential election, he is considering using bureaucratic maneuvers to remove potentially tens of thousands of civil servants across the US government and replace them with people who adhere to his ideology, according to a report from Axios.

That Trump expects his deputies to be unfailingly loyal to him is no secret, but during his time in the White House, they didn’t always do what he wanted. He intends to change that dramatically in a second term, according to the report, appointing staunch cabinet members and changing civil service regulations to allow him to dismiss up to 50,000 employees. He would replace these bureaucrats, who typically hold onto their jobs through presidential administrations, with people handpicked to support his “America first” ideology.

Trump signed an executive order, “Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service,” in October 2020, which established a new employment category for federal employees. It received wide media coverage for a short period, then was largely forgotten in the mayhem and aftermath of Jan. 6 — and quickly was rescinded by President Biden.

Sources close to Trump say that if he were elected to a second term, he would immediately reimpose it.

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House panel showed Trump conspired to seize the election – but was it illegal?

Panel lays out its case that the 45th president orchestrated a plot to keep himself in office, but its work is not done

During the course of its landmark summer of hearings, the House select committee investigating the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol has sought to show that Donald Trump was at the center of a multi-layer conspiracy to seize a second term in office, accusing him of having “summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack”.

In a dramatic capstone on Thursday, the panel argued that Trump betrayed his oath of office and was derelict in his duty when he refused to act for 187 minutes on 6 January as rioters carrying poles, bear spray and the banners of his campaign, led a bloody assault on the US Capitol.

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Joe Biden’s mild Covid symptoms are improving, doctor says

White House seeks to create ‘teachable moment’ after president’s diagnosis on Thursday

The White House physician has said Joe Biden’s mild Covid-19 symptoms are improving and that he is responding well to treatment, as the administration worked to portray the image of a president on the job despite his illness.

Biden had an elevated temperature of 99.4F on Thursday, but that went down with Tylenol, according to a new note from Dr Kevin O’Connor.

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US supreme court rules against Biden in key immigration case

Justices decline to freeze lower court order that blocked officials from changing deportation guidance from Trump era

The supreme court will not allow the Biden administration to implement an immigration policy that prioritizes deportation of people arriving in the US illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk.

The court’s order late on Thursday leaves the policy frozen nationwide for now. The vote was 5-4, with conservative Amy Coney Barrett joining liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and newcomer to the bench Ketanji Brown Jackson in saying they would have allowed the Biden administration to put in place the guidance.

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Trump ‘chose not to act’ during attack on US Capitol | First Thing

The January 6 committee shared testimony showing that the ex-president rejected pleas from even his family. Plus, Twitter reacts to footage of Josh Hawley fleeing rioters

Good morning.

Donald Trump refused for hours to call off the deadly attack perpetrated by a group of his supporters at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, the House select committee investigating the insurrection said last night.

What did the panel say about Trump? The committee member Adam Kinzinger said: “President Trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the Ellipse and telling the mob to go home. He chose not to act.”

What else was discussed? In chilling new testimony, the committee showed that members of the Secret Service detail for the vice-president, Mike Pence, so feared for his and their safety that they made “calls to say goodbye to family members”.

Has Biden declared a national emergency? Speaking in Somerset, Massachusetts, about the climate crisis on Wednesday, the president said that global heating is an emergency but failed to declare a national emergency, as activists hoped he would.

Are these heatwaves here to stay? It looks like heatwaves – which have spread throughout Europe and Asia this summer – will be a regular fixture. Climate scientists have warned that they will be more intense and prolonged if the climate emergency is not addressed.

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Shares in Snapchat owner slump 25% amid slowdown in ad revenue

Parent company Snap talks of ‘incredibly challenging’ conditions as it seeks new sources of revenue

Shares in Snapchat’s parent company have fallen 25% after it confirmed investors’ fears of a slowdown in advertising revenue for social media firms.

Snap painted a grim picture of the effects of a weakening economy on social media in quarterly results on Thursday and declined to make a revenue forecast in “incredibly challenging” conditions, hitting its share price in after hours trading and setting off a chain reaction among listed rivals.

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Amazon buys US medical provider as it cements move into healthcare

One Medical, the primary care organization, will be acquired by the e-commerce behemoth in a deal valued at roughly $3.9bn

Amazon will acquire the primary care organization One Medical in a deal valued roughly at $3.9bn, marking another expansion for the retailer into healthcare services.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant said in a statement Thursday it is buying One Medical for $18 a share in an all-cash transaction. It’s one of Amazon’s biggest acquisitions, following its $13.7bn deal to buy Whole Foods in 2017 and its $8.5bn purchase of Hollywood studio MGM, which closed earlier this year.

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Former US Coinbase employee and two others charged with insider trading

Cryptocurrency exchange manager and his brother arrested in Seattle in what is described as the first case of its kind

A former Coinbase employee and two others have been charged in what federal authorities described as the US government’s first cryptocurrency insider trading case.

Ishan Wahi, a product manager at the cryptocurrency exchange, and his brother Nikhil Wahi were arrested in Seattle on Thursday. They and a third defendant, their friend Sameer Ramani, who remains at large, also face civil charges from the US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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Ex-Minneapolis officer given two and a half years over George Floyd killing

Thomas Lane convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights as Derek Chauvin, convicted of murder, pinned Floyd’s neck with his knee

A federal judge has sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to two and a half years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, calling Lane’s role in the restraint that killed Floyd “a very serious offense in which a life was lost” but handing down a sentence well below what prosecutors and Floyd’s family sought.

Judge Paul Magnuson’s sentence was just slightly more than the 27 months that Lane’s attorney had requested, while prosecutors had asked for more than five years in prison – the low end of federal guidelines for the charge Lane was convicted on earlier this year. He said Lane, who faces sentencing in September on state charges in Floyd’s killing, will remain free on bond until he must turn himself in on October 4.

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‘Out of a horror movie’: Pennsylvania officer shoots snake around man’s neck

Officer was able to fire one shot that injured 15ft reptile because its midportion, not head, was around the victim’s neck

A police officer in Pennsylvania fatally shot a 15ft snake in the head on Wednesday as it was coiled around a man’s neck while he was in cardiac arrest.

Just after 2 pm, two officers from the Upper Macungie Township police department responded to a call that a male with a snake wrapped around his neck.

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Natural gas prices rising in US, dampening hopes for lower inflation

High price of natural gas increases costs for other products including steel, cement and glass

The price of natural gas in the US has risen by nearly half in the past month, as drought and the war in Ukraine continue to bite and millions of Americans turn up their air conditioners in a heatwave.

Natural-gas futures jumped 48% this month, including 10% on Wednesday, to $8.007 per million British thermal units (btu). The rise has come as other energy costs, including oil, have begun to drop from their June peaks.

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Biden’s $37bn crime prevention plan delayed by Covid diagnosis

President had hoped to announce plans for 100,000 extra US police officers but speech in Pennsylvania cancelled

Joe Biden had been poised Thursday to unveil a $37bn proposal for fighting crime including funding to help US police departments hire and train an additional 100,000 officers over a five-year period, according to reports, though after contracting Covid he cancelled the speech where he planned to announce it.

The US president’s Safer America Plan would form part of his proposed 2023 budget and would require a green light from Congress, CNN reports. As well as the additional officers, it would reportedly include the launch of a $15bn grant initiative for states and localities to assist them in preventing violent offenses, and to “ease the burden on police officers by identifying non-violent situations that may merit a public health response or other response.”

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Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip ‘not a good idea right now’, says Biden

US military advises against House speaker’s reported trip as president is due to talk to Xi Jinping for first time in four months

Joe Biden has cautioned against the reported trip to Taiwan next month by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, saying the US military had assessed “it is not a good idea right now”.

The Financial Times reported earlier this week that Pelosi would lead a delegation to Taiwan in August to show support for the democratically ruled island, which Beijing claims is a breakaway province. The trip was initially scheduled for April but was postponed due to Pelosi testing positive for Covid at the time.

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Ukraine war forcing China to rethink ‘how and when’ it may invade Taiwan, CIA chief says

Bill Burns says China ‘unsettled’ by Russia’s war in Ukraine and it may influence decisions on the possible use of force against Taiwan

Russia’s experience in Ukraine is affecting China’s calculations on how and when it may decide to invade Taiwan, the head of the CIA said on Wednesday.

Appearing at the Aspen Security Forum, Central Intelligence Agency director Bill Burns played down speculation that Chinese president Xi Jinping could move on Taiwan after a key Communist party meeting later this year.

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TikTok is fastest growing news source for UK adults, Ofcom finds

App is used by 7% of adults for news with nearly half turning to TikTokers rather than conventional outlets for updates

Watch out Huw Edwards, the TikTokers are coming. The social video platform is the fastest growing news source for UK adults, according to a survey, but nearly half of people using it for current affairs turn to fellow TikTokers rather than conventional news organisations for their updates.

TikTok is used by 7% of adults for news, according to the UK’s communications watchdog, up from 1% in 2020. The growth is primarily driven by young users, with half of its news followers aged 16 to 24.

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Bipartisan Senate group reaches deal to reform Electoral Count Act

Lawmakers agreed to two bills that will overhaul federal law and prevent presidential candidates from overturning election results

A bipartisan group of senators reached a deal on Wednesday to reform a federal law and prevent a future presidential candidate from overturning the will of the people and the result of a valid presidential election.

The lawmakers have agreed to two bills that would reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs how electoral votes are counted following a presidential election. Citing ambiguities in the law, Donald Trump and his attorneys pushed his vice-president, Mike Pence, to disrupt the counting of electoral votes that showed he lost the 2020 election, escalating calls for the 135-year-old law to be reformed. Even before the election, experts warned the law was ambiguous and could be exploited.

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US launches environmental study for Thirty Meter telescope on Mauna Kea

Native Hawaiians have protested the $2.65bn project, saying it will further defile an area already harmed by other observatories

The National Science Foundation will examine the environmental impacts of a proposed optical telescope on the summit of Hawaii’s tallest mountain, a project that has faced strong opposition from Native Hawaiians who consider the area sacred.

Native Hawaiians have long protested the plan to build what would be one of the world’s largest optical telescopes on Mauna Kea, and say the $2.65bn project will further defile an area already harmed by a dozen other observatories.

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Tesla sells 75% of its bitcoin as profits slump due to production challenges

CEO Elon Musk said the cryptocurrency sale was to maximize its cash position only, but prices still slid after Wednesday’s report

Tesla’s second quarter of 2022 came to a shaky end as the electric carmaker reported a drop in profit after it struggled to meet demand due to a shutdown of its Shanghai factory and production challenges at new plants. The company also sold 75% of its bitcoin holdings, leading to a slide in the cryptocurrency price.

Tesla’s second-quarter profit fell 32% from record levels in the first quarter, with the company reporting a $2.26bn net profit on Wednesday.

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‘The world is counting on us’: Biden vows to tackle climate ‘emergency’ – as it happened

Zelenska concluded her remarks by describing the Russian invasion as terrorism, and linking it to America’s experiences with such attacks.

America unfortunately knows from its own experience what terrorist attacks are and has always sought to defeat terrorism. Help us to stop this terror against Ukrainians, and this will be our joint great victory in the name of life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness of every person, every family,” Zelenska said.

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Biden unveils extreme heat plan – but doesn’t declare climate emergency

Initiatives are aimed at helping salvage the president’s tattered climate agenda after Joe Manchin delivered a major blow last week

Facing the disintegration of his climate agenda as ferocious heatwaves hit large parts of the world, Joe Biden has unveiled a new plan to push billions of dollars to US cities and states to help them cope better with extreme heat.

The president stopped short, however, of declaring a climate emergency.

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