Category Archives: US News

Biden bans Russian oil imports in response to Ukraine invasion – as it happened

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Joe Biden said he is issuing this ban on Russian oil imports after “close consultation with our allies, especially in Europe”. He said the American people must understand that many of our European partners will not be able to join the US, a net exporter of energy, in this ban.

“We can take this step when others cannot, but we are working closely with Europe and our partners to develop a long term strategy to reduce their dependency on Russian energy as well,” he said.

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Brother and sister charged with cryptocurrency fraud in New York

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John Barksdale faces up to 65 in prison in connection with Ormeus Coin as well as facing civil charges alongside JonAtina Barksdale

US authorities on Tuesday filed criminal charges against a cryptocurrency executive and civil charges against him and his sister, accusing them of defrauding retail investors out of millions of dollars with a digital token known as Ormeus Coin.

In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, the justice department said John Barksdale lied about the value and profitability of Ormeus Coin’s mining assets, including that the coin was backed by a $250m mining operation generating more than $5m of monthly revenue.

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Foreigners travelling to Ukraine to fight invasion will be given citizenship – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Follow our live coverage of the Russian invasion here.

Stoock markets have been struggling again today with no sign of any let up in the adverse economic impact of the war.

Brent crude is on the rise again – up 2.48% to $126.26 – after see-sawing violently yesterday when it touched almost $140.

Griffiths urged all sides to ensure that civilians, homes and infrastructure in Ukraine were safeguarded.

“This includes allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities on a voluntary basis, in the direction they choose,” he said, after Ukraine rejected an earlier deal that would only allow its civilians to evacuate into Russia or Belarus.

The meeting came as Ukraine and Russia seek an agreement on creating “humanitarian corridors” out of pummelled cities, as the civilian toll from the Russian assault mounts.

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‘Constantly afraid’: immigrants on life under US government surveillance

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Participants in the privately run Isap program, billed as an alternative to detention, describe painful ankle monitors and contradictory rules

Macarena had just put on a pair of skinny jeans when her phone rang.

On the other end of the line was an employee from BI Inc, the private contractor tracking Macarena’s whereabouts on behalf of US Immigration authorities. The employee had received an alert that the ankle monitor Macarena was wearing had been tampered with, Macarena recalled them saying. They asked if she was trying to take it off.

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Juror at centre of Ghislaine Maxwell trial controversy to go before judge

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Maxwell’s laywers want judge to declare mistrial after Scotty David revealed in post-trial interviews he had been abused as a child

The juror in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial who apparently did not disclose childhood sexual abuse during jury selection is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday morning for public questioning.

Juror no 50, whose name is Scotty David, might receive immunity, which would require that he answer Judge Alison Nathan’s questions about his failure to disclose said abuse.

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Guantanamo Bay detainee allowed to return to Saudi Arabia after 20 years

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Mohammad Ahmad al-Qahtani was accused of attempting to enter the US to hijack planes in the September 11 attack

A man accused of attempting to join hijackers in carrying out the September 11 attacks has been repatriated to his home country of Saudi Arabia for mental health treatment after two decades detained at Guantánamo Bay, the US Department of Defense said on Monday.

Mohammad Ahmad al-Qahtani was flown back to Saudi Arabia, to a treatment facility, from the US base in Cuba after a review board including military and intelligence officials concluded he no longer represented a significant threat to US national security, and could be safely released after 20 years in custody.

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Blow to Republicans as supreme court denies bid to overturn electoral maps

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Party urged justices to overturn maps imposed in North Carolina and Pennsylvania that made elections more competitive

The US supreme court has rejected requests from Republicans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to overturn electoral maps imposed by the state supreme court in both places that make elections more competitive.

The justices ruled 6-3 on Monday not to block the new North Carolina maps from going into effect, with justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas saying they would have paused the state supreme court’s ruling.

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Democrats and Republicans agree on plan to suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus – live

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Federal prosecutors were expected to make closing arguments today in the first jury trial of someone charged with joining in the 6 January attack of the US Capitol.

Guy Reffitt of Texas, the first of some 750 people charged with joining the riot to face trial in Washington, has been charged with carrying a semi-automatic handgun while on Capitol grounds and obstructing justice by threatening his children with harm if they reported him to authorities.

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Biden criticized over report of planned Saudi trip to discuss global oil supply

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White House refuses to confirm that top advisers considering spring Saudi Arabia visit to propose increase in oil exports

Joe Biden attracted criticism from both progressives and Republicans after a report indicated the White House was planning a visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss global oil supply.

Axios reported on Sunday that Biden’s senior advisers were considering a spring trip to Saudi Arabia in an effort to improve relations and to propose a potential increase in oil exports.

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Texas man could become first Capitol rioter convicted by jury as trial ends

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Department of Justice lawyers make closing arguments against Guy Reffitt, first of 750 people charged with joining riot to face trial

Federal prosecutors on Monday finished presenting testimony against a Texas man who is the first person to be tried on charges related to the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January last year.

Guy Reffitt told US district judge Dabney Friedrich he would not be testifying at his trial on charges that he stormed the Capitol armed with a holstered handgun and interfered with police.

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William Barr: Trump is full of bull – but I’ll vote for him

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Barr’s book reveals he told Trump he was ‘like a bull in a bull ring’ – in return, Trump calls his former attorney general a ‘horse’

Donald Trump’s second attorney general, William Barr, told the former US president he was “like a bull in a bull ring” and “someone’s going to come and put a sword through your head”.

In return, Trump called Barr a “horse” who had been “broken” by the radical left.

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Florida to formally recommend against Covid vaccine for healthy children

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  • Surgeon general announces policy after roundtable discussion
  • CDC recommends vaccine for everyone five years and older

The surgeon general of Florida, Dr Joseph Ladapo, said on Monday the state will formally recommend against Covid-19 vaccinations for healthy children.

Ladapo made the announcement at a roundtable event organized by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, that featured doctors who have criticized coronavirus lockdowns and mandate policies.

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Florida Panhandle wildfires force evacuation from more than a thousand homes

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Veterans at a nursing home also evacuated, as well as residents of at least 1,100 houses, as firefighters battle two fires

Veterans at a nursing home were evacuated, joining residents from more than 1,000 homes, as firefighters and emergency workers battled two massive wildfires Sunday in an area of the Florida Panhandle that was still recovering from destruction caused by a category-5 hurricane more than three years ago.

The 8,000-acre Bertha Swamp Road fire and the 841-acre Adkins Avenue fire threatened homes and forced residents of at least 1,100 houses in Bay county to flee over the weekend.

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South Korea’s presidential candidates face balancing act amid rising anti-China sentiment

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With an election days away, the two leading candidates must negotiate pitfalls of a reliance on US for security and on China for trade

When Moon Jae-in, the outgoing president of South Korea, returned home from Washington in May last year, his foreign minister, Chung Eui-yong, rushed to clarify the mention of Taiwan in his joint statement with Joe Biden – a highly sensitive subject for South Korea’s biggest trading partner, China.

“The Taiwan-related expressions [in the joint statement] are ‘very general expressions’,” Chung said a day after the statement was released. As if this clarification was not enough, Chung’s deputy, Choi Jong-gun, added: “China would appreciate the fact that South Korea does not see China as an enemy.”

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‘We must march forward’: Kamala Harris commemorates Bloody Sunday anniversary in Selma

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US vice president takes to Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama as congressional efforts to restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act falter

US vice president Kamala Harris visited Selma, Alabama on Sunday to commemorate a defining moment in the fight for the right to vote, making her trip as congressional efforts to restore the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act have faltered.

Under a blazing blue sky, Harris took the stage at the foot of the bridge where in 1965 white state troopers attacked Black voting rights marchers attempting to cross.

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Truck convoy loops around Washington DC to protest Covid restrictions

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The ‘people’s convoy’ of around 1,000 vehicles threaten a week of traffic disruptions around US capital

A long line of huge semi-articulated trucks, recreational vehicles and cars was circling Washington DC, on Sunday, in preparation for what their protesting drivers have pledged will be a week of traffic disruption around the US capital aligned around a loose collection of demands, including the end to all coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions.

From its temporary base at a speedway vehicle racing site in Hagerstown, 80 miles north-west in Maryland, organizers of what they term the “People’s Convoy” of around 1,000 vehicles have said they plan to welcome the new work week by driving slowly around Washington on the already notoriously-congested Beltway, or ring road, at the minimum legal speed in an attempt to get their message across to national politicians.

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Blinken vows to escalate sanctions on Russia but warns war could last ‘some time’

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Speaking from Moldova, US secretary of state warns Russia holds military advantage that western allies are finding hard to counter

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a pledge on Sunday to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions and provide more aid to Ukraine, but warned that Russia held a military advantage that western allies are finding hard to counter and the war was set to last “some time”.

“Vladimir Putin has, unfortunately, the capacity with the sheer manpower he has in Ukraine and overmatch he has, the ability to keep grinding things down against incredibly resilient and courageous Ukrainians. I think we have to be prepared for this to last for some time,” Blinken told CNN.

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Iran nuclear talks rocked by Russian demand for sanctions exemption

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Moscow seeks guarantees regarding trade with Iran that would undermine west’s response to Ukraine invasion

Russia has been accused of trying to take the Iran nuclear deal hostage as part of its wider battle with the west over Ukraine, after it threw a last-minute spanner into plans for an agreement to lift a swathe of US economic sanctions on Tehran.

After months of negotiations in Vienna, a revised deal was expected to be reached within days under which US sanctions would be lifted in return for Tehran returning to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear nonproliferation deal.

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US officials fly to Venezuela for talks in apparent bid to further isolate Russia

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Experts believe rare meeting with Moscow ally could signal significant shift in US policy towards Caracas

Senior US officials have flown to Venezuela for rare talks with Nicolás Maduro’s government in an apparent bid to prise the South American country away from its Russian backers after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

White House and state department negotiators met Maduro representatives in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, on Saturday in what was the first such encounter in years.

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The New York trial that has it all: Hollywood, megayachts, giant sums of money

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The 1MDB swindle is one of the most remarkable cases to hit New York’s justice system in years – but the trial poses a number of unanswered questions

It started, at least in terms of the public’s recognition, with a giant spending spree that reads like a Christmas wishlist for a billionaire.

Picasso’s Women of Algiers for $179m; $100m to fund the production budget of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and a $600,000 Oscar statuette given to Marlon Brando for best actor in On the Waterfront – a gift for the movie’s star Leonardo DiCaprio. But it did not stop there: there was also a custom-built megayacht; a Beverly Hills hotel; a $415m stake in EMI music publishing; and a transparent grand piano.

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