Category Archives: US News

Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’ – as it happened

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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed the US Congress seated in a high-backed office chair with a plain white wall behind him and a prominently-displayed Ukrainian flag to his right.

He was neatly turned out with a trimmed beard and wearing what has become his characteristic combat-green tee shirt, since Russia invaded Ukraine last month and he was forced to shelter in a hidden bunker somewhere in Kyiv with his top team.

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Prosecutors accuse China of campaign to spy on and harass dissidents in US

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Prosecutors have launched a series of criminal cases including one involving an alleged attempt to smear a congressional candidate

US prosecutors have accused Chinese government agents of trying to spy on and intimidate dissidents living in the United States, including a congressional candidate, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in New York.

The US justice department convened a Washington news conference to detail the accusations in a series of criminal cases.

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Brazil was alleged intended recipient of US couple’s nuclear submarine secrets

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Jonathan and Diana Toebbe are accused of trying to sell secrets to Brazil, which cooperated in an FBI operation against them

The country that an American spy couple tried to sell nuclear submarine secrets to last year has been revealed to be Brazil.

Jonathan and Diana Toebbe, a suburban couple who lived in Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested last October and charged with attempting to sell the design of US nuclear-powered submarines to someone they thought was a representative of a foreign power – but who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

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Girl whose remains were found over 60 years ago in Arizona identified

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Sharon Lee Gallegos, found partially buried in a wash in 1960, was allegedly abducted from her grandmother’s New Mexico house

A little girl whose burned remains were found over 60 years ago in the Arizona desert has finally been identified.

The Yavapai county sheriff’s office said Tuesday the girl had been identified as four-year-old Sharon Lee Gallegos of New Mexico.

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UK spies who allegedly passed questions to CIA torturers subject to English law, court rules

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Abu Zubaydah, tortured at CIA ‘black sites’ in six different countries, has right to sue UK government

UK intelligence services who allegedly asked the CIA to put questions to a detainee who was being tortured in “black sites” were subject to the law of England and Wales and not that of the countries in which he was being held, the court of appeal has ruled.

The three appeal judges were asked to decide whether Abu Zubaydah, who was subjected to extreme mistreatment and torture at secret CIA “black sites” in six different countries, has the right to sue the UK government in England.

Zubaydah had no control whatever over his location and in all probability no knowledge of it either.

His location was irrelevant to the UK intelligence services and may have been unknown to them.

The claimant was undoubtedly rendered to the six countries in question precisely because this would enable him to be detained and tortured outside the laws and legal systems of those countries.

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Ghislaine Maxwell lawyers say Scotty David should never have been on jury

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Attorneys reject explanation that Juror 50 ‘flew through’ screening questionnaire, which would have flagged he had been sexually abused

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have said the juror who did not disclose childhood sexual abuse provided a dubious explanation for the omission as they once again requested a new trial.

The juror, Scotty David, was questioned in court on 8 March about his lack of disclosure. David, who was Juror 50, told the judge, Alison Nathan, that he was distracted when he flew through a screening questionnaire for potential panelists.

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Marvel denounces ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill after Disney apology

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Following Disney’s apology for silence over Florida law, studio pledges ‘strong commitment as allies who promote the values of of equality, acceptance and respect’

Marvel Studios says it “strongly denounces” any legislation that affects the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, following the passing of a controversial bill in Florida.

Republicans in Florida recently passed what opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill which limits teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity to young children in the state.

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New York mayor’s crime plans reinforce ‘worst parts of NYPD’, say experts

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Plainclothes unit and enthusiasm for facial recognition technology are worrying civil rights advocates

While New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, has been defending his veganism and equating drug dependency to liking cheese, he has been escalating the city’s police powers, deeply concerning civil rights advocates.

Adams, the second Black person to serve as New York mayor, largely won the mayorship through securing the votes of Black, brown and working-class New Yorkers.

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Zelenskiy to address US Congress and call for no-fly zone | First Thing

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Ukrainian president expected to press for tougher line on Russia and urge US to facilitate transfer of fighter jets. Plus, interest rates set to rise

Good morning.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will deliver a virtual address to the US Congress today, the latest in a series of speeches to western leaders as he works to galvanize support for his besieged nation.

How are the negotiations with Russia going? Zelenskiy has said he sees possible room for compromise in talks with Russia before a fresh round of discussions. But he added that more time was needed for negotiations to bear fruit.

What happened to the Russian journalist who carried out a live broadcast protest? A Russian court has fined Marina Ovsyannikova 30,000 roubles (£215). The fine was a relatively light sentence for an act of protest that shocked Russian television viewers and earned plaudits from western leaders.

What else is happening? Here’s everything we know on day 21 of the invasion.

What has caused the delay? Lawyers have been consistently bogged down in technical and ethical disputes, foremost of which has been the long-running debate over whether the defendants can ever receive a fair trial given the torture to which they were subjected.

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Canada and US announce Arctic military exercises amid Russia tensions

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Drills will test response to aircraft and cruise missiles in vast and thinly defended northern region

Canada and the US have issued a rare public notice over planned military exercises in the Arctic amid growing concern over Russian aggression.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command said on Tuesday that it would hold air defence exercises throughout the Canadian Arctic, adding that the drills were meant to test the ability to “respond to both aircraft and cruise missiles” threatening the continent.

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US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for first time since 2018

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Fed raises rates by a quarter percentage point from near zero as central bank struggles with inflation, the war in Ukraine and Covid

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time since 2018, as the central bank struggles with soaring US inflation, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus crisis.

The Fed raised rates by a quarter percentage point from near zero, in what is expected to be the first in a series of raises in the coming months.

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‘Incels’ are a rising threat in the US, Secret Service report finds

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Some behavioral themes identified include concerning online content, a history of being bullied and financial instability

A new US Secret Service report details a rising threat from men who identify as “involuntary celibates” or “incels”, due to their inability to form intimate relationships with women.

The report released on Tuesday and prepared by the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) highlights behavioral threat assessment themes identified in years of research examining targeted violence.

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The White House says second gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for COVID-19

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Vice-President Kamala Harris has tested negative but is cutting back on her schedule; both were vaccinated and had booster shots

Doug Emhoff, the US second gentleman, has tested positive for Covid-19, the White House announced on Tuesday. The vice-president, Kamala Harris, tested negative, but is curtailing her schedule as a result of her husband’s positive test.

Harris’s spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Harris would not participate in a planned Equal Pay Day event on Tuesday evening at the White House with Joe Biden “out of an abundance of caution”.

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Chicago police officers won’t be charged in shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo

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State’s attorney says there’s insufficient evidence to charge officers in the deaths of Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez

No charges will be filed against the Chicago police officers who chased and fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez within days of each other last year, prompting sharp criticism of how the department handles foot pursuits, a prosecutor announced on Tuesday.

The Cook county state’s attorney, Kim Foxx, said there was insufficient evidence to charge the officers in the deaths, which were captured on video that showed both suspects appeared to have handguns before the shootings.

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Biden to visit Nato and EU in Brussels as pressure over Ukraine increases – as it happened

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If spending legislation remains stalled in Congress, the US will soon run out of funding for Covid booster shots, new treatments and testing efforts, a Biden administration official told NBC News.

To recap: the White House requested $22.5bn in Covid relief funding. Democrats negotiated the funding down to $15bn, but still had to take it out of the $1.5tn omnibus package in order for it to pass.

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Proud Boys leader had plans to ‘storm’ government buildings on 6 January

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Enrique Tarrio possessed document titled ‘1776 Returns’, with details to invade and occupy seven buildings, New York Times says

The former leader of the Proud Boys, a violent far-right nationalist group whose members were prominent in the January 6 riot, was found in possession of comprehensive plans to “surveil and storm” government buildings, prosecutors said.

Enrique Tarrio, the group’s former chairman who was arrested last week and charged with conspiracy over the deadly attack, had a nine-page document entitled “1776 Returns”, named for the year of American independence, the New York Times reported.

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Bob Saget’s fractures possibly caused by falling on carpeted floor

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Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos star died from accidental blow to the head, medical examiner concluded

Fractures around Bob Saget’s eye sockets and bleeding around his brain were possibly caused by the comedian hitting “something hard, covered by something soft”, such as a carpeted floor, according to a report released on Tuesday that provided more details of the death of the TV star.

The 65-year-old star of Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos was found by a hotel security officer on his bed at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando on 9 January, after he failed to check out and his family asked for a wellbeing check.

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Fox News cameraman and producer killed in Ukraine

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Irish cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova killed in attack outside Kyiv

Two Fox News journalists – producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova and cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski – were killed in the attack outside Kyiv which injured correspondent Benjamin Hall, the US network and its journalists confirmed on Tuesday.

Fox News in a statement only announced the death of Zakrzewski, an Irish citizen. Ukrainian officials and Fox News reporters confirmed that Kuvshynova was also killed in the attack.

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Accused 9/11 plotters reportedly in talks over deal to avoid death penalty trial

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New York Times reports talks under way for plea agreement that could bring an end to one of biggest criminal cases in US history

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants accused of planning the 9/11 attacks are reportedly in talks with US prosecutors over a potential plea deal that would see them plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

The New York Times reported that negotiations are under way for a possible plea agreement that could bring to an end what is arguably the biggest criminal case in US history. The five defendants were first charged in 2008 with plotting or logistically supporting the terrorist attacks that led to the murder of almost 3,000 people in New York’s Twin Towers, the Pentagon in Washington, and in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

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Rising US isolationism means Australia must become more resilient and autonomous, thinktank warns

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United States Studies Centre finds Americans are not convinced the Indo-Pacific should be a priority region for the Biden administration

Voters in the US are not convinced the Indo-Pacific should be a priority region for the Biden administration, and isolationist sentiment in the country continues to rise, according to a new analysis by the United States Studies Centre.

The new USSC State of the United States report, to be launched in Canberra at an event on Wednesday with the defence minister, Peter Dutton, Labor frontbenchers Penny Wong and Brendan O’Connor, and US congressman Joe Courtney, finds support for the US alliance with Canberra remains strong.

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