Category Archives: US News

‘Disturbing’: weedkiller ingredient tied to cancer found in 80% of US urine samples

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CDC study finds glyphosate, controversial ingredient found in weedkillers including popular Roundup brand, present in samples

More than 80% of urine samples drawn from children and adults in a US health study contained a weedkilling chemical linked to cancer, a finding scientists have called “disturbing” and “concerning”.

The report by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that out of 2,310 urine samples, taken from a group of Americans intended to be representative of the US population, 1,885 were laced with detectable traces of glyphosate. This is the active ingredient in herbicides sold around the world, including the widely used Roundup brand. Almost a third of the participants were children ranging from six to 18.

This story is co-published with The New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group

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‘They don’t care about us’: US Starbucks workers allege they were fired for union activity

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Nine Colorado employees claim their dismissals came after an organizing campaign in response to safety concerns and pay problems

Nine Starbucks workers at three stores in Denver, Colorado, who were fired shortly after their stores voted to unionize allege they were dismissed in retaliation for union organizing at the American coffee chain giant.

The firings are among a few dozen cases around the US where workers have alleged they have been fired from the coffee retail chain during a union organizing campaign at their store. More than 180 Starbucks corporate retail stores in the US have voted to unionize, and more than 300 have filed for union elections.

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Biden in crisis mode as specter of one-term Carter haunts White House

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President urged to act more forcefully to deal with rising inflation, gun violence and dire supreme court rulings

At an Independence Day barbecue, crises cascading around him, Joe Biden declared that he had “never been more optimistic about America than I am today”.

Of course there were challenges, grave ones, the US president told the military families assembled on the south lawn of the White House. And the nation had a troubling history of taking “giant steps forward” and then a “few steps backwards”, he acknowledged.

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Musk’s withdrawal from Twitter deal sets stage for long court battle

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Analysis: billionaire could be fined $1bn for walking away – and he risks new lawsuits and even his job, experts say

Elon Musk withdrew his $44bn bid to buy Twitter on Friday after a months-long saga that rankled investors and shook the market, kicking off what may be a long legal battle with the company.

The Twitter chair, Bret Taylor, said on Friday that the social media firm would sue in a Delaware court to enforce the deal. The deal included a “specific performance” clause, a provision that may force Musk to buy the company as long as he has financing in place. Musk in May said he had secured financing to complete the deal.

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Alaska family’s blind golden retriever found after being lost for three weeks

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Construction crew found elderly Lulu in bushes after thinking she was a bear

An Alaska family had given up hope of finding their blind, elderly golden retriever who wandered away from their home three weeks ago, but a construction crew found Lulu in salmonberry bushes after initially confusing her for a bear.

Lulu was barely alive after being found Tuesday, but she is being nursed back to health and is back home with her family, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported.

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Biden signs executive order to protect US abortion access and urges Americans to ‘vote, vote, vote’ – as it happened

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It’s official; Biden has formally signed an executive order protecting access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare services.

Here is a previous post detailing what is in the executive order.

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‘Downright dangerous to our democracy’: Wisconsin’s supreme court restricts use of absentee ballot boxes

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Drop boxes may be placed only in election offices and voters must return ballot in person, in blow to Democrats in battleground state

Wisconsin’s conservative-controlled supreme court ruled on Friday that absentee ballot drop boxes may be placed only in election offices and that no one other than the voter can return a ballot in person, dealing a critical defeat to Democrats in the battleground state.

The court did not address the question of whether anyone other than the voter can return his or her own ballot by mail. Election officials and others had argued that drop boxes are a secure and convenient way for voters to return ballots.

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US adds 372,000 jobs in June as growth exceeds expectations

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US unemployment rate held steady at 3.6%, labor department said, as jobs report indicated resilience

The US economy added 372,000 jobs in June, an indicator of resilience despite signs of slowing economic growth.

The jobs reports is seen as a key indicator on whether high inflation – and central bank efforts to tame it with interest rates rises – is beginning to bite down on the wider American economy.

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California wildfire forces partial closure of Yosemite national park

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Washburn fire is burning near southern portion of the park, Mariposa Grove, home to over 500 mature giant sequoias

Yosemite national park has been partially closed as firefighters try to contain a wildfire that has now stretched across more than 60 acres.

The Washburn fire is burning near the southern portion of the park, Mariposa Grove, which is home to more than 500 mature giant sequoias in the park, officials said.

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Arizona to ban people from filming police within 8ft

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Violators of the new law, which includes exceptions for traffic stops, will face a misdemeanor charge and up to 30 days in jail

A new law in Arizona bans people from taking close-range recordings of police, ostensibly to prevent them getting dangerously close to potentially violent encounters, though some critics have described it as a threat to the first amendment.

The new law prohibits anyone within 8ft of law enforcement officers from recording police activity. Violators will face a misdemeanor charge and up to 30 days in jail, though only after ignoring a verbal warning.

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Joe Biden to sign executive order protecting access to abortion

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Move by president signals start of White House fightback after supreme court struck down Roe v Wade

Joe Biden is to sign an executive order offering protections to millions of American women denied the constitutional right to an abortion.

The move signals the start of a White House fightback after the supreme court last month struck down Roe v Wade, its landmark ruling that for half a century had legalised abortion nationwide.

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US gunmakers summoned to Congress to justify soaring profits from gun violence – as it happened

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Top Democrats ‘deeply troubled that gun manufacturers continue to profit from the sale of weapons of war’

Could Donald Trump have had the IRS carry out its most stringent audit on two of his political foes? That’s the question posed by a story published yesterday in The New York Times that says former FBI director James Comey and his deputy Andrew McCabe were both selected for random audits by the tax authority, which is run by an appointee of the former president.

A spokesman for Trump denied knowing anything about the matter, and experts quoted in the story wondered whether it was even possible for a president to order the IRS to carry out such an action. The coincidence is nonetheless abnormal. Here’s how one former IRS official put it to the Times:

“Lightning strikes, and that’s unusual, and that’s what it’s like being picked for one of these audits,” said John A. Koskinen, the I.R.S. commissioner from 2013 to 2017. “The question is: Does lightning then strike again in the same area? Does it happen? Some people may see that in their lives, but most will not — so you don’t need to be an anti-Trumper to look at this and think it’s suspicious.”

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Former Theranos exec Sunny Balwani convicted of 12 counts of fraud

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The decision by California jurors brings to close a 13-week trial of Elizabeth Holmes’ former lover and business partner

The former Theranos executive Sunny Balwani has been convicted on all 12 fraud charges brought against him for his role at the now-defunct blood testing company.

The decision closes the final chapter of Theranos’ legal saga, nearly eight years after serious concerns were raised about the startup’s blood testing technology. The conviction of Balwani, who at one point oversaw the Theranos lab and put millions of his own fortune into the company, also marks a more severe judgment than that of his former lover and business partner Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted of only four of 11 of the same charges in January.

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Ghislaine Maxwell appeals against sex trafficking conviction

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The British socialite was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month

The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has officially appealed against her conviction and sentence in the United States for sex trafficking.

The 60-year-old was found guilty by a jury of luring young girls to massage rooms for the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004.

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Highland Park suspect’s father to be investigated for signing gun application

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Robert Crimo Jr denies any responsibility for the attack, saying ‘I had no – not an inkling, warning – that this was going to happen’

The father of the Highland Park gunman will be criminally investigated in connection with the Independence Day attack for signing an affidavit supporting his son’s application for a gun license, police said.

Robert Crimo Jr, the father of Robert Crimo III – who is suspected of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in a suburb of Chicago – sponsored his son’s firearm owner application in 2019.

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Colorado governor issues executive order to protect abortion access

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Jared Polis pledges that his state will not assist other states in criminal or civil investigations into abortions

The Democratic governor of Colorado has mandated that his state will not cooperate with any investigations into abortions led by other states.

Jared Polis signed an executive order on Wednesday pledging that the western US state will not assist other states in criminal or civil investigations used to prevent people from accessing abortions.

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Four bears killed at Alaska park reserved for homeless people

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Bears were stealing food from tents at campground in Anchorage that provides shelter but is also bear country

Alaska wildlife officials have killed four black bears in a campground recently reserved for people in Anchorage who are homeless after the city’s largest shelter was closed.

Employees from the Alaska department of fish and game on Tuesday killed a sow and her two cubs and another adult bear that was acting separately, stealing food from tents inside Centennial Park, which is managed by the city, officials said.

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Ex-Cheer star Jerry Harris sentenced to 12 years in prison for child sexual abuse images charges

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22-year-old breakout star on Netflix’s cheerleading show had pleaded guilty to crimes relating to child abuse images and soliciting sex from minors

Jerry Harris, the star of hit Netflix series Cheer, has been sentenced to 12 years behind bars in the US for crimes relating to child sexual abuse images and soliciting sex from minors.

Prosecutors had urged the lengthy sentence, saying that Harris’s status as a celebrity had enabled him to “persuade and entice” his young victims to engage in sexual conduct.

In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International

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FBI and MI5 leaders give unprecedented joint warning on Chinese spying

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Christopher Wray joins Ken McCallum in London, calling Beijing the ‘biggest long-term threat to economic security’

The head of the FBI and the leader of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency have delivered an unprecedented joint address raising fresh alarm about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal their technology for competitive gain.

In a speech at MI5’s London headquarters intended as a show of western solidarity, Christopher Wray, the FBI director, stood alongside the MI5 director general, Ken McCallum. Wray reaffirmed longstanding concerns about economic espionage and hacking operations by China, as well as the Chinese government’s efforts to stifle dissent abroad.

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Georgia monument dubbed ‘America’s Stonehenge’ damaged by explosives

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Attack turned one of four granite panels of structure, which some conservative Christians regard as satanic, into rubble


A rural Georgia monument that some conservative Christians have criticized as satanic and that others have dubbed “America’s Stonehenge” was bombed before dawn on Wednesday in an attack that turned one of its four granite panels into rubble.

The Georgia Guidestones monument near Elberton was damaged by an explosive device, the Georgia bureau of investigation said. The Elbert county emergency management agency said the explosion was seen on video cameras shortly after 4am. Pictures and aerial video show the destroyed panel on the ground.

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