Category Archives: US News

Marina Ovsyannikova, Russian TV protester, decries Putin propaganda

Posted on by

‘I could see security dragging people away,’ says editor fined for walking into shot with sign saying ‘No War’

The Russian TV editor who interrupted a news broadcast to protest the Ukraine war said on Sunday she acted out of dissatisfaction at propaganda disseminated by Vladimir Putin’s government, and said she had turned down an offer of asylum in France despite fearing further retaliation.

Marina Ovsyannikova, who describes herself as “a patriot”, was fined 30,000 roubles ($280) by a court in Moscow last week for the “spontaneous” act of rebellion in which she appeared during the live newscast with a sign saying “No War”.

Continue reading...

US likely to see Covid cases rise from Omicron subvariant, Fauci says

Posted on by

Biden’s chief medical adviser also says the US is ‘clearly going in the right direction’ on the pandemic

The US is likely to see an increase in Covid cases like that in Europe and the UK thanks to the BA.2 virus subvariant but not a dangerous surge, Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.

Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser also said the US was “clearly going in the right direction” on the coronavirus pandemic.

Continue reading...

Republican Hawley’s attack on supreme court nominee Jackson is wrong, says senator

Posted on by

Senate judiciary committee chair Dick Durbin says Hawley’s attacks should be ignored in confirmation hearings this week

The Missouri Republican Josh Hawley is wrong to attack Ketanji Brown Jackson, Joe Biden’s supreme court nominee, and should be ignored in confirmation hearings this week, the Senate judiciary chair said.

Hawley, the Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin said, is “part of the fringe within the Republican party … a man who was fist-bumping the murderous mob that descended on the Capitol on 6 January of the last year.

Continue reading...

‘Mosquito in a nudist colony’: Republican Ron Johnson targets Fauci and Hunter Biden

Posted on by

Wisconsin senator says if GOP retakes control it will use committees to move against Democrats and Biden

Hunter Biden and Anthony Fauci will be prime targets of Senate Republicans should the party win control in November, a senior senator said.

Asked by the Hill what he would want to investigate should he control a committee with subpoena power, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said: “Like everything? It’s like a mosquito in a nudist colony, it’s a target-rich environment.”

Continue reading...

Russia denies ISS cosmonauts wore yellow and blue suits to support Ukraine

Posted on by

Cosmonaut says colours represent his university, after earlier saying they were chosen because they had a lot of yellow material

Russia has rubbished reports suggesting its cosmonauts wore yellow suits with blue accents to show solidarity with Ukraine.

The three cosmonauts wore the suits, bearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag, when arriving at the International Space Station (ISS), leading to speculation they were a show of support for the country Russia is attacking.

Continue reading...

Afghanistan’s former finance minister is now Uber driver in Washington DC

Posted on by

Washington Post rides with Khalid Payenda, who left for the US before the fall of Kabul

Days before Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last August, Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, was “welcomed” to the United Arab Emirates. He was alleged to have taken with him $169m, from his country’s treasury.

Six months on, Khalid Payenda, once Ghani’s finance minister, is driving an Uber in Washington DC.

Continue reading...

TikTok was ‘just a dancing app’. Then the Ukraine war started

Posted on by

Many features make the platform susceptible to disinformation as world leaders try to harness influencers’ power for good

Many have called the invasion of Ukraine the world’s first “TikTok war”, and experts say it is high time for the short video platform – once known primarily for silly lip syncs and dance challenge – to be taken seriously.

Some politicians are doing just that. In a speech, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appealed to “TikTokers” as a group that could help end the war. Last week, Joe Biden spoke to dozens of top users on the app in a first-of-its kind meeting to brief the influencers on the conflict in Ukraine and how the US is addressing it.

Continue reading...

Kenosha off-duty police officer shown putting knee on 12-year-old girl’s neck

Posted on by

Officer resigns from school security guard job after officials release footage of fight and girl’s father calls for criminal charges

School officials in Kenosha, Wisconsin released surveillance footage that showed an off-duty police officer putting his knee on a 12-year-old girl’s neck to restrain her amid a lunchtime fight.

The Kenosha Unified School District released redacted footage of the 4 March fight on Friday.

Continue reading...

Russia wants to use Brittney Griner as ‘negotiating chip’, says Democrat

Posted on by

Tim Kaine believes basketball star’s detention is to make her ‘part of this chess game’

A senior Democratic senator has said he believes Russia wants to use the WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been held in Moscow for more than a month on accusations she smuggled drugs into the country, as a “negotiating chip” regarding the war in Ukraine.

“I think there’s no doubt that her detention, and then this continuation of the imprisonment, is all to try to make her a hostage and a part of this chess game,” Tim Kaine, of Virginia, told Full Court Press in an interview scheduled to air in full on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Kanye West barred from Grammys over ‘concerning online behavior’

Posted on by

Representative confirms rapper will not perform at awards show after he was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours

Kanye West has been barred from performing at the Grammy awards next month due to “concerning online behavior”, a representative for the rapper and designer said.

The decision, confirmed to Variety, came a day after West, now legally known as Ye, was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours. The platform said content on the 44-year-old’s account was in violation of its policies on “hate speech and bullying and harassment”.

Continue reading...

American killed in Ukraine refused to postpone trip to help sick partner

Posted on by

Jimmy Hill, 68, was killed in a Russian attack on Chernihiv as his partner, Irina Teslenko, received treatment

Jimmy Hill, the American who was killed in Ukraine this week, refused to postpone a trip to the country to bring medical treatment to his longtime partner, Irina Teslenko, who has progressive multiple sclerosis, his family said on Saturday.

Hill, 68, was killed in a Russian attack on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, as Teslenko received treatment. Hill’s family say Teslenko and her mother are trying to leave the city but would need an ambulance and it is unclear if that can happen.

Continue reading...

Miami rapper Baby Cino shot dead after leaving prison

Posted on by

Unidentified gunman kills 20-year-old vocalist minutes after he was released on bond following arrest in Opa-locka, Florida

Tributes have been paid to Baby Cino, an aspiring rapper from Miami, who was shot and killed in a daylight ambush minutes after leaving a city jail on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old vocalist, whose real name was Timothy Starks, was arrested by Miami-Dade officers at 2am in Opa-locka, Florida on Tuesday after they pulled him over for driving with an obscured number plate. On searching his car, police found a fully loaded Glock 32 pistol.

Continue reading...

Stacey Abrams made president of Earth in Star Trek cameo

Posted on by

Candidate for governor in Georgia and self-confessed superfan makes appearance in season four finale of Star Trek: Discovery

The Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights campaigner Stacey Abrams has been made president – of United Earth.

The honour was bestowed by the Paramount+ TV series Star Trek: Discovery, in its season four finale.

Continue reading...

California: kidnapper sentenced in case police first said was ‘Gone Girl’ hoax

Posted on by

Matthew Muller guilty of rape and false imprisonment in intricate attack which authorities first dismissed – to their cost – as staged

A man who sexually assaulted a northern California woman who was kidnapped from her home in what police initially thought was a hoax was sentenced on Friday to 31 years in state prison.

Matthew Muller, already serving a 40-year sentence for federal crimes, was sentenced in Solano county superior court after pleading no contest to two counts of forcible rape of Denise Huskins, who was dragged from her Vallejo home in 2015, the county district attorney’s office said.

Continue reading...

West Texas fires: crews make progress against giant blaze complex

Posted on by

Governor declares disaster in 11 counties as experts warn of fires in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska

Fire crews in Texas made progress on Saturday against a massive complex of wildfires that killed a deputy sheriff and burned at least 50 homes, officials said.

“Progress has been made but fire activity has picked up with rising temperatures and lower humidity,” said Matt Ford, spokesperson for Texas A&M Forest Services. He said about 25% of the flames were contained, up from about 4% late on Friday as the fire burned thick brush and grass fields.

Continue reading...

Pressure mounts on Koch Industries to halt business in Russia

Posted on by

While hundreds of companies have paused operations, three Koch subsidiaries are still operating in the country

Pressure is mounting on Koch Industries, the conglomerate run by the rightwing billionaire Charles Koch, to pull out of Russia after it was revealed it was continuing to do business in Russia through three wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Hundreds of companies including Coca-Cola, KPMG, McDonald’s, Netflix and Starbucks have paused operations in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. But, as news site Popular Information revealed last week, three Koch subsidiaries are still operating in the country.

Continue reading...

‘That’s just Dmitry’: Nasa plays down threat to ISS amid Ukraine war

Posted on by

Head of Russian space agency has made provocative comments about ending cooperation with US but missions are proceeding

The Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, has played down hostile comments by the head of the Russian space agency, after Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to US companies.

“That’s just Dmitry Rogozin,” Nelson told the Associated Press. “He spouts off every now and then. But at the end of the day, he’s worked with us.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Continue reading...

Finland named world’s happiest country for fifth year running

Posted on by

Experts say social support, honesty and generosity key to wellbeing, as Afghanistan and Lebanon struggle in global ranking

Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year in a row, in an annual UN-sponsored index that ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, closely followed by Lebanon.

The latest list was completed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Winds and dry conditions fuel multiple Texas wildfires as hundreds evacuate

Posted on by

Gusty conditions were expected to complicate containment efforts and ‘support wildfire activity’ in the Eastland Complex fire

Low humidity and gusty winds fueled multiple wildfires on Friday in Texas, burning homes and other buildings and prompting hundreds to evacuate .

Fueled by strong winds through dangerously dry brush and grass fields, the wildfires merged to form what fire officials call a “complex” that was burning near Eastland, about 120 miles (195 km) west of Dallas. As of Friday morning, fires in the area had burned roughly 52,700 acres (21,300 hectares), according to Texas A&M forest service, including the 45,383-acre (18,365-hectare) Eastland Complex fire that was only 4% contained.

Continue reading...

Warning signs for US as Covid cases rise in Europe

Posted on by

The US must prepare now for the next surge or variant, whether it’s BA.2 or a different one, experts say

Cases and deaths from Covid-19 have fallen in the US, but warning signs and rises in other countries are prompting experts to take future and existing variants of the virus seriously – and they are warning that America has not yet reached the endemic phase.

It’s important to prepare now for the next surge or variant, whether that’s BA.2 or a different one, experts say.

Continue reading...