Mexico’s president responds to Trump’s latest warning that he could authorize strikes against drug cartels in country
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has again dismissed Donald Trump’s threat of military action against drug cartels inside her country, telling reporters: “It’s not going to happen.”
Sheinbaum made the comments on Tuesday morning in response to the US president’s latest warning that he could authorise strikes in Mexico.
Continue reading...Senior aide to Mohammed bin Salman allegedly led campaign to identify users who were posting critically about Saudi regime
A senior official in Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage, who is expected to travel with the crown prince on his first trip back to the US in seven years, has previously been accused by US prosecutors of playing a central role in a conspiracy to infiltrate Twitter and identify users who were posting critically about the Saudi regime.
Bader al-Asaker, who has headed Prince Mohammed’s private office since before he became crown prince, has never been formally charged by the US government for his role in the 2014-15 scheme, but was accused in court by a US government lawyer as having led the campaign to find a “mole” who would be able to extract sensitive information from the social media company, which is now known as X.
Continue reading...Kingdom’s de facto ruler to arrive on first White House trip since killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018
Donald Trump is to welcome Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman to Washington on Tuesday, in a red-carpet visit expected to result in the sale of highly advanced US F-35 fighter jets to the Gulf monarchy.
The crown prince’s arrival in Washington will be his first White House visit since the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist and critic of the kingdom Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA later determined Khashoggi’s murder was approved by the crown prince, leading to global condemnation.
Continue reading...Cedric Irving Jr charged over death of ‘legend’ John Beam, who was shot and killed on Laney College campus last week
The 27-year-old man charged with murder in the fatal shooting death of revered Oakland college football coach John Beam made his first appearance in court on Tuesday and was ordered to remain in jail without bail.
Cedric Irving Jr, who does not have a criminal record, was charged with murder and use of a gun during the crime, Alameda county district attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said at a news conference. He did not enter a plea on Tuesday and is scheduled to do so at a hearing on 16 December.
Continue reading...Former treasury secretary steps away to ‘rebuild trust’ after severe backlash but will continue teaching Harvard classes
The Harvard professor and economist Larry Summers said he would be stepping back from public life after documents released by the House oversight committee revealed email exchanges between Summers and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who called himself Summers’ “wing man”.
Politico reported on Monday that Summers, a former treasury secretary, expressed deep regret for past messages with Epstein.
Continue reading...The resolution, which includes references to an independent Palestine, was passed by a vote of 13-0 with China and Russia abstaining
The UN security council has endorsed proposals put forward by Donald Trump for a lasting peace in Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force and a possible path to a sovereign Palestinian state.
The resolution, passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia, charted “a new course in the Middle East for Israelis and Palestinians and all the people of the region alike”, the US envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, told the council chamber.
Continue reading...Rapper to give address on Tuesday after supporting Trump’s post condemning Nigerian government
The US-based Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj will work alongside the White House to highlight claims of Christian persecution in Nigeria.
Minaj is expected to deliver a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday, according to a Time journalist who first posted about the collaboration on Sunday, adding that it was arranged by Alex Bruesewitz, an adviser to Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Enrollment fell 17%, the largest drop in a decade aside from the pandemic, amid Trump’s immigration crackdown
The number of international students enrolling in US colleges and universities plunged this year as the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown on higher education began to bite, data released on Monday reveals.
New international student enrollment fell 17% in the current academic year, the largest drop in more than a decade aside from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a fall snapshot published by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
Continue reading...Lingering thunderstorms pose risk of mudslides in areas around Los Angeles recently ravaged by wildfires
A powerful atmospheric river weather system has mostly moved through California but not before causing at least seven deaths and dousing much of the state.
Among the dead was a seven-year-old girl who was swept into the ocean by waves estimated up to 20ft at a state beach on Friday. The girl’s father, 39-year-old Yuji Hu, of Calgary, Alberta, was killed while trying to save his daughter.
Continue reading...President attempts to save face politically after pressuring Republicans to back off their pushes to release files
Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to back the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, an abrupt reversal, is a rare instance of the president being unable to tame his Maga base and being instead forced to accede to it.
Many Republicans are expected to support a vote in the US House this week to force the justice department to release the files. Once the measure passes, it would still need approval in the US Senate, where 13 Republican senators would need to join with all 47 Democrats to approve it.
Continue reading...Experts believe decision is designed to pressure Venezuela’s leader into stepping down with threat of military force
The US has said it will designate a putative Venezuelan drug cartel allegedly led by Nicolás Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization, as the Trump administration sent more mixed messages over its crusade against Venezuela’s authoritarian leader.
The move to target the already proscribed group, the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), was announced by Marco Rubio on Sunday. “Headed by the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro, the group has corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela and is responsible for terrorist violence conducted by and with other designated FTOs as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe,” the US secretary of state tweeted, generating excitement among hardline adversaries of Maduro who interpreted the announcement as proof Washington was preparing to intensify its push to force the South American dictator from power.
Continue reading...Strike comes as navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier arrives in Caribbean Sea and president says US may open talks with Venezuelan leader
The United States conducted another attack on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, killing three people aboard, the Pentagon said on Sunday.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” the US Southern Command announced in a post on social media.
Continue reading...Trump administration has made Democratic-led city its latest target despite fierce objections from local leaders
A top border patrol commander touted dozens of arrests in North Carolina’s largest city on Sunday as Charlotte residents reported a surge of encounters with federal immigration agents near churches and apartment complexes.
The Trump administration has made the Democratic-led city of about 950,000 people its latest target for an immigration enforcement crackdown it says will combat crime, despite fierce objections from local leaders and the fact that crime rates in the city are steadily declining.
Continue reading...29-year-old was shot after incident in Midtown
Police say dispute outside restaurant turned violent
New York Jets player Kris Boyd is hospitalized in critical situation after being shot in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The NYPD said the 29-year-old was shot in the abdomen around 2am on West 38th Street in Midtown. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition.
Continue reading...Congresswoman, a longtime Trump ally, pushes back on president’s remarks labeling her a traitor and a lunatic
Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday called Donald Trump’s remarks labeling her a traitor and a lunatic “hurtful” but said she hopes she and the US president can “make up”, despite stark differences over policy and the release of documents about Jeffrey Epstein.
Greene, a longtime ally and fierce defender of Trump and the “Make America great again” (Maga) base, pushed back against his name-calling in her first interview since Trump withdrew his support for her on Friday.
Continue reading...Experts say air traffic controllers quickly returning to work, with promise of full back pay, and even $10,000 bonus
Fears that it would take weeks or even months for flight schedules in the US to return to normal in the wake of the US federal government shutdown do not appear to be coming true and the busy upcoming holiday season should be normal for travel, experts say.
That is at least in part because air traffic controllers are quickly returning to work, according to the Department of Transportation.
Continue reading...Jackson’s songs are back on charts and biopic trailer racked up 116m views in 24 hours, yet there is a certain hesitation
Michael Jackson’s voodoo classic Thriller was high on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the week of 15 November, handing the 16-years-gone King of Pop a record for having a Top 10 hit across six different decades. Simultaneously, Jackson also broke records for receiving 116m views in 24 hours for the trailer of a new biopic, Michael, set for release in April.
Millions of fans may be excited and primed for a Jackson biopic. For comparison, the trailer beat out Taylor Swift’s Eras tour preview and it will join a procession of recent music biopics about Bruce Springsteen, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Elton John. The most successful of all – the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody – took in nearly a billion dollars at the box office.
Continue reading...Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives
Alice Wong, a writer and disability rights activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51.
Wong died Friday at a hospital in San Francisco due to an infection, said Sandy Ho, a close friend who has been in touch with Wong’s family.
Continue reading...Local reports say targets include church parishioners doing yard work and workers hanging Christmas lights
Federal immigration officers on Saturday began a sweep through Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, federal officials confirmed.
Local media reports said that among the locations targeted by masked federal agents was a church in east Charlotte, where an arrest was made while about 15 to 20 church members were doing yard work on the property.
Continue reading...Cedric Irving Jr, 27, is alumnus of high school where John Beam taught before gaining fame on Netflix’s Last Change U
A 27-year-old Skyline high school alumnus, frequently seen lingering near Laney College, has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting of Oakland football coach John Beam.
Police identified the suspect as Cedric Irving Jr, who was apprehended before dawn at the San Leandro, California, Bart station, ending an urgent search for the individual believed responsible.
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