Category Archives: US News

Biden can end Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, supreme court rules

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Ruling by 5-4 allows administration to terminate policy that forced asylum seekers to return to Mexico while claims are considered

The supreme court has issued a ruling that will allow the Biden administration to end a Trump-era immigration program forcing asylum seekers attempting to enter the US at the southern border to return to Mexico while their claims are considered.

Soon after taking office, Biden had sought to completely end the program known informally as “Remain in Mexico” and formally as the Migrant Protection Protocols.

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Virginia lawsuits indicate pattern of schools ignoring reported sexual assaults

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Two lawsuits are back in front of federal judges, drawing scrutiny to schools’ failure to support students who report assaults


A pair of lawsuits that for years has plagued Virginia’s largest school system with allegations that it ignored students’ accusations of sex assaults are back in front of federal judges.

One of the lawsuits includes allegations of horrific abuse suffered by a student at a Fairfax county middle school and was the basis for a 2014 federal investigation.

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Newspapers in US closing at rate of two a week despite efforts to halt trend

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Areas without a reliable source of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well


Despite a growing recognition of the problem, the United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued on Wednesday on the state of local news.

Areas of the country that find themselves without a reliable source of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications said.

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Kinzinger slams fellow Republican Boebert and warns of ‘Christian Taliban’

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Adam Kinzinger says ‘no difference between this and the Taliban’ after Lauren Boebert’s call to end separation of church and state

A Republican congressman slammed GOP colleague Lauren Boebert’s recent call to end separation of church and state in the US, warning: “There is no difference between this and the Taliban.”

“We must opposed [sic] the Christian Taliban,” Adam Kinzinger, a US representative for Illinois, said on Wednesday. “I say this as a Christian.”

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R Kelly sentenced to 30 years on sexual abuse charges

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The R&B singer, 55, had been found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering involving women, girls and boys

The singer R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday for sexually abusing women, girls and boys, more than 20 years after first facing allegations.

Kelly’s conviction represents a victory for survivors of sexual violence, particularly those who may hesitate to speak out against abusers for fear of retribution.

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Giuliani associate Lev Parnas handed 20 months in prison for campaign finance fraud – as it happened

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• It was a mixed Tuesday for Donald Trump-backed candidates in Republican primary elections around the country. Colorado voters largely rejected most Trump-supporting candidates in Tuesday’s GOP primaries, although Lauren Boebert, the extremist Colorado Republican congresswoman, won her bid for relection.

• In Illinois, Mary Miller, who had been criticized after she declared the Supreme Court’s abortion decision as a “victory for white life” – a spokesman said she had mixed up her words – won in after she was backed by Trump. Darren Bailey, who was also endorsed by Trump, won the Republican gubernatorial primary in the state.

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CDC activates emergency operations unit for monkeypox

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The move signals the initial stages of a public health concern as 306 cases of the virus have been recorded in the US

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has activated an emergency operations unit for monkeypox that signals the initial stages of a public health concern.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC), was activated on Tuesday to boost operational support for addressing a monkeypox outbreak.

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‘You destroyed so many lives’: R Kelly victims give emotional statements

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In a series of heart-rending speeches, victims delivered testimony about the impact his crimes had on their lives

The victims of R Kelly gave emotional testimony of the impact his crimes had on their lives during the sentencing hearing that saw the US singer given 30 years in prison.

In a series of heart-rending speeches, several women stood up in court, sometimes addressing their abuser, sometimes pausing for breath or holding back tears.

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Erdoğan gains from lifting Sweden and Finland Nato veto with US fighter jet promise

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Analysis: deal between Biden and Erdoğan is sealed in Madrid after Nordic countries vow to control support for Kurdish terrorism

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, immediately started to reap the rewards for lifting the block on allowing Sweden and Finland to join Nato when the Biden administration said it backed the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

Speaking at a briefing call on Wednesday, Celeste Wallander, the assistant secretary for defence for international security affairs at the Pentagon, told reporters that strong Turkish defence capabilities would reinforce Nato’s defences.

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Two men charged after police find possible link to Texas migrant deaths

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Men were detained leaving home listed on registration papers for abandoned trailer truck where 53 migrants were found dead

Two Mexican nationals at an address linked to the abandoned trailer truck where at least 53 migrants were found dead Monday evening in Texas have been charged with illegally possessing guns as federal authorities continue investigating the grim discovery.

Juan Claudio D’Luna Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna Bilbao were at a house in the 100 block of Arnold Drive in San Antonio, listed on the registration papers for the big rig that contained the bodies, which had been discovered abandoned in an industrial area of the Texas city, agents with the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms wrote in a criminal complaint.

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Secret Service agent reportedly willing to testify Trump did not lunge at him

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Row comes after ex-White House aide’s explosive testimony that portrayed a violent and unhinged Trump on day of Capitol attack

Senior Secret Service agents are reportedly prepared to testify that Donald Trump did not lunge for the wheel of his vehicle or physically attack the chief of his security detail after his speech near the White House on January 6 – as a former aide said he did in sworn testimony on Tuesday.

The row follows the explosive testimony to the House January 6 committee, which painted an unhinged and violent portrait of Trump on the day of the Capitol attack, in a shocking hearing many have seen as potentially loosening the former president’s grip on the Republican party.

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Israel delays travel restrictions on West Bank in apparent gesture to Joe Biden

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New rules limiting ability of foreigners to enter occupied territory are postponed before US president’s Middle East visit

Israel has delayed the implementation of strict rules limiting the ability of foreigners to enter and stay in the occupied West Bank, in what is believed to be a gesture to Joe Biden before the US president’s visit to the Middle East next month.

A statement from the high court on Wednesday said the new rules would be shelved until early September, as a decision had not yet been made regarding objections to the proposed policy.

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Election denier Tina Peters loses Colorado primary for top poll official

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The Republican, a county clerk, is facing criminal charges for tampering with election equipment

Tina Peters, a Colorado county clerk who is facing criminal charges for tampering with election equipment, lost the Republican nomination to be the state’s top election official on Tuesday. She was defeated by Pam Anderson, a former county clerk.

The race was among several closely watched contests this year in which Republicans who denied the election results are seeking key roles with oversight of elections.

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US ramping up monkey pox vaccine distribution to slow down spread

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The government will expand access to and increase supply of two different formulations to contain the infection

The US government is ramping up efforts to staunch the spread of monkeypox by sending hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses to states in the coming months, expanding access for those most at risk and increasing supply to areas with high case numbers.

The plan, announced on Tuesday, involves rapidly expanding access to doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine – which has so far been limited – to prevent monkeypox in areas with the highest transmission and need.

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Ex-White House aide delivers explosive public testimony to January 6 panel

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Cassidy Hutchinson tells committee Trump knowingly directed armed supporters to march to the Capitol

In explosive public testimony, a former White House aide told the January 6 committee Donald Trump knowingly directed armed supporters to march to the US Capitol in a last-gasp effort to remain in power.

Appearing at a hastily scheduled hearing, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s final chief of staff, Mark Meadows, painted a devastating portrait of a raging president spiraling out of control and a White House often too ambivalent to constrain him.

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Jan 6 committee hearings: Cheney describes possible witness tampering after ex-aide’s testimony – as it happened

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The Guardian’s Ashifa Kassam and Ramon Antonio Vargas report:

Fifty suspected migrants were found dead and at least a dozen others were hospitalized after being found inside an abandoned tractor-trailer rig on Monday on a remote back road in south-west San Antonio, officials have said.

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Facebook and Instagram removing posts with mentions of abortion pills

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In light of the supreme court’s verdict, memes and status updates on social media on how to access the medicines have exploded

Facebook and Instagram have begun removing posts related to abortion pills, as posts about such medication spiked following the supreme court’s ruling stripping away constitutional protections for abortions.

Memes and status updates explaining how people can obtain abortion pills in the mail have exploded across social platforms in recent days.

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‘She ruined lives’: Ghislaine Maxwell’s victims tell of the impact of her abuse

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The British socialite maintained her innocence as women came forward to accuse her of sexual abuse and trafficking

Shortly before Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in her New York sex trafficking case, several of the former British socialite’s victims provided impact statements in court.

The victims who addressed Judge Alison Nathan described harrowing abuse at the hands of Maxwell and her one-time boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein and the longterm emotional impact that still haunts them.

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Fifty-one migrants found dead inside abandoned Texas trailer truck

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Mexican foreign minister mourns ‘huge tragedy’ as US investigates effort to smuggle people across border

Fifty-one people believed to be migrants were found dead and at least a dozen others were hospitalized after being found inside an abandoned tractor-trailer rig on Monday on a remote back road in south-west San Antonio, officials have said.

The discovery in Texas may prove to be the deadliest tragedy among thousands of people who have died attempting to cross the US border from Mexico in recent decades.

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First Thing: at least 46 people found dead in Texas trailer truck

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Further 16 people in hospital after tragedy in San Antonio. Plus, Louisiana judge blocks abortion ban

Good morning.

Forty-six people were found dead and 16 others were taken to hospital after being found inside a tractor-trailer rig yesterday on a remote back road in south-west San Antonio, Texas officials have said.

Has anyone been arrested? Three people were taken into custody but it was unclear if they were connected to human trafficking, McManus said. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have launched a federal investigation into the deaths, with support of local police and the border force.

What else do we know? Here’s everything we know about the trailer truck deaths so far.

What’s happening in California? California voters will decide in November whether to guarantee the right to an abortion in their state constitution.

What has Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said about the supreme court justices? The congresswoman says Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch lied under oath to Congress about their views on Roe.

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