The ironies of Cheney’s parting of ways with Donald Trump and modern day Republicans are numerous
He was the embodiment of America-first ideals before Donald Trump and his Maga movement hijacked the phrase.
The principle of a strong president empowered to push through the agenda was core to his view of how US politics should function.
Continue reading...Though their neoconservative vision may seem less relevant since Bush left office, signs of the Cheneys’ influence linger in Trump’s administration
Weeks before one of America’s best-known businessmen, Donald Trump, was sworn in as president on an overcast day in Washington DC, a different politician with a similarly familiar name took her oath of office elsewhere in the Capitol.
Liz Cheney was then both a freshman congresswoman from Wyoming and a stalwart of the neoconservative philosophy espoused by her father Dick Cheney, the former vice-president under George W Bush who died on Monday. Trump had repudiated Bush’s invasion of Iraq in his campaign for president, but the congresswoman nonetheless went on to become an ally in bending Republican lawmakers to his will.
Continue reading...More than 500 people received letters from MaineHealth expressing condolences and providing estate instructions
Maine’s largest healthcare system accidentally sent condolence letters to more than 500 living patients in effect informing them that they had died.
MaineHealth attributed the blunder to a computer system error and apologized.
Continue reading...Former US vice-president a key figure in expanding White House’s power and ‘corrupting the intelligence-policy relationship’ to sell Iraq war
Dick Cheney, who has died aged 84, came to be seen as a moderate in his later years for his staunch opposition to Donald Trump, but he also stands accused of paving the way for Trumpism by undermining the independence of the intelligence agencies and US adherence to international law.
As George W Bush’s second-in-command in the “war on terror” declared after the 9/11 attacks, Cheney made himself one of the most powerful vice-presidents in US history, and was a key protagonist in the push to invade Iraq, as well as the use of torture on suspected al-Qaida members detained without charge in the CIA’s offshore “black sites”.
Continue reading...President says she’s repeatedly rejected such offers from Trump for US to confront Mexico’s powerful drug cartels
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has flatly denied reports that the United States is planning to send troops into Mexico to confront the country’s powerful cartels, noting that she had repeatedly rejected such offers from Donald Trump.
“It’s not going to happen,” Sheinbaum said during her daily morning news conference on Tuesday. “We do not agree with any process of interference or interventionism.”
Continue reading...Democratic leaders decry ‘unbelievably cruel’ move, saying ‘Trump is using food as a weapon’ during shutdown
Senate Republicans shot down a Democratic-led attempt to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits on Monday during the government shutdown – a move that heightens uncertainty for the 42 million Americans participating in the country’s biggest anti-hunger program.
Jeff Merkley, a Democratic senator, and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, attempted to pass a resolution via unanimous consent that would have forced the Department of Agriculture to fund Snap benefits for the month of November.
Continue reading...President backs Cuomo in election eve Truth Social post as Mamdani hits back at Trump’s ‘threat – it is not the law’
On the eve of New York’s well-watched mayoral election, President Donald Trump issued a threat to its voters: stop Zohran Mamdani or pay.
“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad.”
Continue reading...Banks was convicted of killing 13 people, including his own children, in 1982 shooting in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
George Banks, one of the most notorious mass murderers in the US, has died.
Banks, 83, died on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix state prison in Pennsylvania, the state department of corrections said. Banks died of complications from renal neoplasm, or kidney cancer, said Montgomery county coroner Dr Janine Darby.
Continue reading...Actor who said in 2015 that a Trump presidency would be ‘the end of the world’ says celebrities make no difference to how people vote
Jennifer Lawrence has said she no longer feels it appropriate to speak out against the Trump administration, lest she exacerbate unhelpful debate and further divisions.
“I don’t really know if I should,” said Lawrence in an interview with the New York Times. “During the first Trump administration, I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. But as we’ve learned, election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for.
Continue reading...Halloween weekend failed to make numbers jump, adding up to the weakest monthly performance – other than during the pandemic – for three decades
Box office earnings in October have crashed to levels not seen since the late 1990s, with Halloween weekend becoming the worst of the year so far.
According to a report in Variety, cinema takings for October in North America totalled $425m (£323m), the lowest figure since October 1997, when it was $385m – not counting October 2020, when North American cinemas only took $63m as moviegoing was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading...Kleenex maker’s deal for troubled Johnson & Johnson spinoff comes amid lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny
Kleenex maker Kimberly-Clark said on Monday it will buy Kenvue for more than $40bn in a landmark deal for the consumer sector, as the Tylenol maker grapples with White House scrutiny and choppy demand.
Kimberly-Clark would be scooping up the former Johnson & Johnson unit after months of struggles by Kenvue that include the ouster of its CEO in July and a share slump when Donald Trump in September asserted that Tylenol use can lead to autism, a claim not backed by conclusive research.
Continue reading...Patel reportedly became furious after stories revealed he flew to visit girlfriend and fired official who oversees fleet
A top FBI official with 27 years standing has reportedly been fired by the bureau after its director, Kash Patel, became enraged by press stories revealing he had used a government jet to travel to see his girlfriend sing the national anthem at a wrestling match.
Steven Palmer, who had worked at the bureau since 1998, was fired as head of the FBI’s critical incident response group which is responsible for handling major security threats as well as overseeing the agency’s fleet of jets. He was the third head of the unit to be dismissed since Patel became the second Trump administration’s FBI director in February.
Continue reading...Officers did not find additional devices in a sweep of building, authorities say
There was an explosion early Saturday at Harvard University’s medical school that appears to have been intentional, but no one was injured, authorities said.
Police at the Massachusetts Ivy League university said in a statement that an officer who responded to a fire alarm encountered two unidentified people and tried to stop them. But they ran from the campus’s Goldenson building before the officer got to where the alert was triggered by an explosion, police said.
Continue reading...Prompts indicating suicidal ideation got alarming replies, which experts say shows ‘how easy it is to break the model’
An OpenAI statement released this week claimed the company had made its popular service ChatGPT better at supporting users experiencing mental health problems like suicidal ideation or delusions, but experts tell the Guardian they need to do more to truly ensure users are protected.
The Guardian tested several prompts indicating suicidal ideation with the ChatGPT GPT-5 updated model, which is now the default, and got alarming responses from the large language model (LLM) chatbot.
Continue reading...Former US president headlines event for Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, who leads in polls
Barack Obama headlined a rally Saturday in Virginia to try to secure a victory for the state’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, who leads in polls days before the election.
Obama moved between criticizing Donald Trump and Republican policy and rhetoric – with a bit of humor – while also explaining how Abigail Spanberger could help counter what Democrats see as the country’s downward trajectory.
Continue reading...US president says he ordered Pentagon to begin planning for action, without mentioning Muslim persecution
Donald Trump on Saturday said he had ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria as he stepped up his criticism that the government was failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the west African country.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump posted on social media. “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”
Continue reading...Nearly 50% of 30 busiest airports facing absences as staff are forced to work without pay and shutdown hits 31st day
Nearly 50% of the 30 busiest US airports faced shortages of air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday, leading to flight delays nationwide as a federal government shutdown hit its 31st day.
The absence of controllers on Friday is by far the most widespread since the shutdown began, with one of the worst-hit regions being New York, where 80% of air traffic controllers were out, the agency said.
Continue reading...US vice-president announces to 10,000 attenders of Turning Point USA that he prefers wife, who is Hindu, to be Christian
JD Vance is doubling down on comments he made about wanting his wife, Usha Vance, to convert to Christianity – remarks that drew political backlash from some quarters.
At an event with Turning Point USA at the University of Mississippi to honor the conservative group’s slain founder Charlie Kirk, an audience member questioned the US vice-president about how he sees the links between American patriotism and Christianity.
Continue reading...Police say Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, met girl through Snapchat, and charged him with human trafficking and sexual assault
A 13-year-old Louisiana girl who went missing after meeting a man online was found alive in a box at his home several states away in Pennsylvania – along with evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, according to authorities.
Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, faces charges of human trafficking, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of a child after police in Pittsburgh said they arrested him on Thursday. He is one of at least three men who had been arrested as of Saturday amid an investigation involving law enforcement agencies in multiple states.
Continue reading...Verdict delivered in favor of Lyndsey Sutherland over death of daughter ‘Jazzy’ after doctors failed to identify condition
A civil jury in Maine has awarded $25m to a woman whose teenage daughter died from leukemia after being misdiagnosed with a condition linked to steroid-using men.
The hefty verdict delivered in favor of Lyndsey Sutherland on Thursday called for her to receive $10m for the wrongful 2021 death of 15-year-old Jasmine “Jazzy” Vincent as well as $15m for pain and suffering, said her attorney, Meryl Poulin.
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